Instinctual Reactions
by VampSaxAngel
Summary: What would happen is Jasper was the one to find his true soul mate in Renesmee instead of Jacob? How would things be different? After Nes grows up, she & her Major learn what true love is even with all of the hurdles that life throws at them, especially when word gets out that the God of War found his mate. And what of the Volturi? Will they take what happened without retaliating?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and**** VampSaxAngel****. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews.**

**Chapter 1****  
****(****Jasper's POV****)**

I could hear the gentle squeal of the plane tires over the roaring engine as they made contact with the runway. I winced at the sound, the rush of heartbeats drowning in the sound that banged uncomfortably through my sensitive eardrums. I rolled my eyes at the torrent of emotions that melted over my senses like molten lava. Sadness, anger, happiness...blah, blah, blah...Damn it all. Damn this 'gift' of mine.

Just as I was growing exceedingly uncomfortable with the bout of lust that was permeating the air from a nearby closet, the plane steps shot down. Esme looked around frantically, trying her hardest to find her returning children. Alice dropped my hand to take a few steps away, linking her arm with Esme's.

Soon, the doors to the terminal opened and people began scattering into the large airport like buzzing bees. The scent of their blood hit me full force, and I cut off my breathing immediately. Wouldn't want to start anything that we couldn't explain out in the open now, would we? Of course not!

I was just turning to take those few steps that would put me beside Carlisle when a subtle breeze from the open doorway stopped me dead in my tracks. My eyes widened as my head snapped in the direction of the door. I could easily make out the top of Edward's head as he worked his way through the crowd. Bella was close behind him, her hand practically welded to his.

Forcing my gaze away, I traced over the faces of the other passengers. I was trying my damnedest to find the source of the delectable scent. By the time Bella and Edward reached us, I had scanned every face, catching the scent a fraction from each person. At the end of it all, the scents had gotten so bad that they were melting together and blending across my senses. If it wasn't for the second breeze that blew through, sending Bella's scent even closer to me, I never would have realized that it was coming from _her_. I looked over the faces of my family to see if any of them had noticed the change. Obviously, no one had.

Bella was making her way from person to person, passing on a hug. She reached me and I immediately pulled her close, wondering where the hell all of these feelings came from. Looking over her shoulder, I checked Edward's expression to see if he had noticed any of this from my thoughts. He continued to do as he was, conversing with Carlisle, paying no mind to mine and Bella's interaction.

Letting out a rush of comfort to Bella and calming my jumbled thoughts, I fought the urge to pull her closer. Even so, my protective nature kicked in. Though it was always there as I was Bella's brother, but now it was the protection of the major that drove me. But why? That was the ultimate question. Bella was a wonderful person and exceptionally loving. We have never been close, but we've always had this silent brother and sisterly communication between us. Was that what drove me?

Eh, not much of a good reason, if I do say so myself. Again, my thoughts cannoned and burst like fireworks. My feelings for Bella increased tenfold. I wished to protect her always, but I couldn't give a valid reason as to why I wanted to do so. Pulling my eyebrows together, I looked down at the mane of chocolate hair that fell down Bella's back as she buried her face into my shirt. It was then that new emotions hit me full force. Now, however, they were not my own, but Bella's. I began to wonder if she could feel my influence, but that was answered as her fists tightened themselves in my jacket along my lower back. I rubbed the top of her arm to let her know that I understood. She breathed against me, feeling very safe in my arms. It was one of the most tranquil emotions I had felt in a long time.

Checking my surroundings, I found Esme motioning for us to follow them as they began to make their way out to the car. Bella and I fell in step behind them, arms around one another. Bella was tight to my side, holding onto me like a lifeline. Esme walked beside her mate, arms laced together around one of his. Edward stood beside Carlisle, conversing about the latest events. Alice was close by, listening into the conversation, and, by the look on her face, focusing into the future to find some answers. By her growing irritation, I could tell that she had not found any. Emmett and Rosalie were behind them, hands laced.

I looked down at Bella, checking to make sure she was comfortable, or as comfortable as she could be with carrying a nonhuman child. I breathed out my nose. Geez, things just can't be easy for this poor girl. I shook my head. She was much stronger than Edward...well, anyone gave her credit for. Personally, I thought she was stronger than all of us. She was still standing after the shock of what was once thought impossible. That proved that fact more than anything.

We soon reached the cars and everyone piled into their respective vehicles silently, or whispering as Edward and Carlisle were.

"Jasper, would you mind driving Bella?" Edward asked me, standing at the Mercedes' open door. "I need to talk to Carlisle some more."

I squeezed Bella's waist slightly. "I'm fine with it, but I think Bella should decide."

He nodded, and we both looked down at her. Her eyes brushed over the both of us before she took a breath in, speaking in tones that would be inaudible to another human.

"I'll just ride with Jasper," she murmured.

Edward nodded. "We'll get you well situated when we get home, love," he said as he walked over to the two of us, his eyes trained on his bride. She nodded silently, lost in his gaze while also being extremely aware of my presence beside her. He smiled at her, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "You'll be in our bedroom on a comfy bed wrapped up in cold sheets soon, just as you like to sleep."

She smiled sweetly, lifting to her tiptoes to place a tired kiss on his cheek. She dropped down, landing against me slightly as she stumbled a little. I steadied her and Edward looked on, concerned.

"I've got her, bro. She's safe," I told him as she gripped onto me to stay on her feet properly.

"I don't doubt it. Just get her home safe, I can take care of the rest."

I nodded, and made my way over to my car with Bella. We had to drive about two and a half hours to get to our remote home, but my car was the most comfortable out of all of them. Hopefully, Bella would be able to stand being in there for so long. She let go of me, but held my hand securely so she could sit in the car somewhat gracefully. After that, I bent down as the rest of the family took off out of the parking lot, and grasped her seat belt in my hand. I pulled it across her torso, locking it into place.

"Ready, Darlin'?" I asked her quietly, checking to make sure she was secure.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm ready to go home, Jasper," she whispered.

I closed the door, materializing in the driver's seat before it closed. The car was cranked in the next second. "We'll be there soon enough."

She nodded. "I'm afraid I won't be much good company. Would you mind if I slept?"

I glanced at her as I flew out of the lot. "Of course not, make yourself comfortable, though, we've got a long drive."

She slowly lowered the top of the seat back into a resting position. Within five short minutes, she was out like a light.

I smiled as quiet snores filled the car. Thinking back to just before left for the airport, I was brought back to when the fateful phone call occurred. My eyes glazed over Bella's stomach, already shedding its usually flat surface. The child was already growing inside her. Yes, a child. Edward had referred to the baby as an _'it'_. That was degrading to anyone, no matter the circumstances. My respect for Edward dropped as soon as he said that over the phone...

_Ring...Ring..._

_The phone disrupted the peace that I had created over the house. I held Alice close to me as we all sat around the living room. Carlisle picked up the phone in his office as Esme flitted about around him, cleaning the already spotless room._

"_Hello?" Carlisle answered. His chair rolled from his desk as everyone zoned into his side of the conversation. "Bella? What's wrong?"_

_A pause. Esme and Carlisle were soon in the living room, standing in front of the black screen of the television. We leaned in, listening intently._

"_Can vampires go into shock?" Bella asked through the phone, sounding panicked._

_Emmett and I exchanged looks. Carlisle matched his eyes with his worried mate. "Has he been harmed?"_

"_N-no. Well, not exactly. Ugh, Carlisle, Is it possible for me to get pregnant?"_

_His eyebrows pulled together. "Well...yes, but you haven't..." His eyes widened to the size of saucers._

_We could hear Bella rummaging around and then a thump as the phone hit the floor. More shuffling, a soft curse, and finally, the sound of a door falling closed._

"_Only with Edward," Bella grumbled. "But that's not the point right now! Listen, I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant."_

_Rosalie gasped, shock, anger, and fear flowing through her venom filled veins. "Impossible," she breathed._

"_Maybe not," Emmett said. "Bella has always been good with weird." He gave a cheeky grin as Esme shushed us. He rolled his lips in between his lips, sitting back like a child that was caught saying something he shouldn't._

_I shook my head at him as Rosalie leaned in even more. Carlisle growled at all of us softly. We immediately sobered up._

"_Where is Edward?" Carlisle asked, wrapping an arm around a frantic Esme._

"_He's inside. He's literally on his knees in our bedroom, staring at nothing. He won't budge when I touch him." She breathed in over the phone, the receiver crackling slightly. "Carlisle, I'm scared."_

_We could hear her heartbeat speed up as she began to cry softly over the phone._

"_Shhh...Bella, Shhh...you're okay. I'm gonna make sure you're okay," Carlisle soothed her._

_She sniffled. "Thank you, Carlisle." A pause and a bang. "Um, could I talk to Rosalie for just a moment?"_

_Carlisle looked over at Rosalie as her eyes widened. She rose to her feet slowly, hand outstretched for the small device. He set in her hand, and she placed it delicately to her ear. "Bella?"_

"_Rosalie, listen, I need your help," Bella stated._

_Rosalie grew curious, her eyebrows pulling together. "Help with what?"_

_Bella sighed, sounding irritated with the interrogation she was having to receive. "I think Edward will want to rid the child straight from my stomach. And I...I can't let him do that. I-I'm attached. It's our child...I've dreamed of this happening, and I'm not about to let him take this away from me. And I know he'll be perfectly fine as soon as the baby comes..."_

_Rosalie was ready to kill. The idea of Edward even considering destroying a child was bloodcurdling. It was even worse that it was his own. From Rosalie's anger, I almost had the arm of the couch I was resting on ripped in my hand. If it wasn't for Alice taking both of my hands in hers, I still would have. Esme was shocked, to say the least. She was harshly reprimanding the idea, and she was not afraid to tell her husband so. He had to shush her with a gentle kiss in order for her to calm down, but it was only a small amount of calm as her emotions were growing haywire. I had to thoroughly control the room, calming everyone to a short degree but also letting them feel as they pleased, only at small increments._

"_He won't touch the child, Bella. I promise, and I will be there every step of the way," Rosalie stated._

_We would practically hear the tears of joy that were coming down Bella's face now. However, we did hear the sigh of happiness that fell through the receiver. "Thank you so much, Rosalie. You have no idea what this means to me. I need to talk to Carlisle again, please."_

_Rosalie handed the phone over, muttering, "Oh, believe me, I understand." She walked to Emmett, taking a seat beside him. He immediately wrapped on arm around her, rubbing her shoulder._

"_Carlisle, we are going to be on the next-" She screamed loudly, and we could hear some rustling._

"_Bella? Bella?" Carlisle called frantically._

_Sharp, quick breathing crackled through the phone. "S-sorry." Shuffling and a sound like skin hitting rock. "Damn, Edward, I am still human. I can't hear you. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"_

"_No, sorry, I didn't think I would scare you as bad as I did," Edward apologized, his voice in a more distant region. "Anyway, Bella, give me the phone."_

"_Alright," She sighed, "here."_

"_Carlisle?" Edward wondered._

"_I'm here, son," Carlisle replied._

"_We are boarding for the next flight home. I've already packed our stuff..."_

"_You have?" Bella asked._

"_Yes, love," he answered, pulling away from the phone. "Be ready to meet us at the airport."_

"_Of course, we'll be there."_

"_Oh, and Carlisle, we need to talk," Edward stated, and they were gone. The dial tone rang in the air a moment as we took in what had just transpired._

"_Do you really think Bella's pregnant?" Esme asked her mate._

_He breathed out, wrapping an arm around Esme's waist. "Yes, I do. It's not like Bella to bring up something to serious without honestly considering it first. She would not lie to us."_

"_Will you let Edward get rid of the child if he wants to?" Emmett asked, one of his rare serious moments falling through now._

"_I would not. Unless they somehow agreed on that point of action, I would not deny them. As it is, if Bella wishes not to have it done, we should not force her. She's the one carrying the child, so I will give her the 'try' benefit on that point of action. Edward will have to learn to listen to his wife," Carlisle replied, rubbing his hand up and down Esme's side._

"_It's his child," Rosalie growled. "He can't want to kill his own child."_

"_You know how Edward thinks, Rosalie," Alice interjected. "It's the fact that it is his own child that he will want to destroy it. It's a demon in his eyes. He'll get rid of it to protect Bella. Or he'll try to at least."_

_Rosalie looked out the window, shaking her head. "It's selfish."_

"_So is denying Edward and Bella's right to do as they want. Given that fact, I believe that it will be Bella that wins this battle," Esme murmured._

"_But Edward won't go down without a fight either," Emmett stated. "Bella will have to have the guts to tell him no."_

"_For once, I don't she will have any trouble with that," Alice said._

_Everyone nodded silently. The silent moments dragged on before Carlisle picked up a few sets of keys, tossing the extras to me and Emmett._

"_We're going to the airport."_

_We rose, heading out the door. Soon, we would see the effects of this child on Bella, and then we would learn how they were dealing with all of this._

I turned off the main road, making my way up to the house. Somehow, I had beaten everyone here. Thinking nothing of it, I leaned over and placed a cool hand on Bella's warm cheek. She stirred at the contact, but her eyes only opened a fraction.

"Are we at home?" she asked, sounding like a sleepy child. It was precious. Where did _that_ come from?

Shaking my head imperceptibly, I replied, "Yes, we are. Do you need me to carry you or do you want to walk?"

She reached down and unlocked the seat belt, letting it fly back into its holder. She made a move to sit up, but her tired body was not having any of it. She gave me the most helpless look ever, and I could swear that my world stopped spinning. She really was sweetheart. I will definitely have to investigate on where these feelings are coming from. If I don't, it will be the death of me.

My lips lifted at the corners. "Carry it is."

I was at her open door in the next second. I bent down towards her, and she reached her arms up, wrapping them tightly around my neck. I placed my free arm under her knees. I slowly, and carefully, lifted her from the car, minding her head so she did not hit it on anything.

Once she was out of the vehicle, I stepped back, kicking the door closed with my foot. She giggled lightly as I jostled her when my shoestring got caught in the door for a brief second. I smiled at the sound, making my way towards the house door. I opened it, stepping inside.

"I'm gonna put you down so I can remove your coat, okay? It won't be comfortable sleeping in a bed wearing this thing," I said, squeezing my hand into the thick fabric at her waist. Her understanding eyes met mine as I helped make sure her feet were planted firmly on the ground. I finally understood why Edward was so drawn to her eyes. They were like melted chocolate with flecks of liquid gold. I was drawn into them.

I quickly turned my eyes away before I was drawn in too much. She stood still as I began unbuttoning her jacket. I soon finished and pulled it from her shoulders. After that, I reached up, and unzipped the jacket beneath that. It was a wonder that she was not sweating from the heat. I helped her out of the second jacket, and she was left in a blue long sleeve shirt with dark denim jeans and tennis shoes. I hung her coats on the rack by the door before turning back to her. She already appeared more comfortable.

"Better?" I asked, smiling.

She returned the smile as I, once again, lifted her into my arms. "Much." Her head fell to my hard shoulder as she sighed. "I'm still sleepy."

I smiled as her voice faded into that childlike rhythm. I began to make my way up the many stairs in our house. I reached the door on the third floor just as engines roared up the driveway. I walked into Edward's room and laid Bella on the silky comforter before reaching down and untying her shoes. I pulled them off with her socks, and then lifted her up and under the covers. She snuggled into the sheets, smiling happily at the immediate comfort. As soon as her head hit the pillow, her eyes began to droop.

I smiled, shaking my head with a quiet chuckle. I turned and began to make my way out of the room. "Thank you, Jasper," she whispered, the quiet words ringing through the room like beautiful bells.

I turned towards her petite, blanket covered form. "You're welcome. Sleep well," I murmured.

I shut the door behind me and made my way downstairs. Everyone was sitting around the room, speaking in quiet tones. Alice was over at the window, no doubt looking into the future to see if she could find anything on what would happen to Bella. Personally, I didn't care. She was going to be safe no matter what. I shook my head, glancing over at Edward as I plopped down in the recliner. He was having an intense conversation with Carlisle, and my thoughts obviously weren't getting to him. My eyes tightened. What was wrong with me?

What had changed in me? Sure, Bella was always important to me, but never like this. I leaned my head back against the cushion, closing my eyes as I listened in on Bella's heartbeat. Suddenly, it meant so much more than it had before. It was the sound of life. The sound I yearned to protect, with no full proof reason as to why. I suppose I was just meant to do so. I was her brother after all.

But, why did she mean so much more now than she ever had before?

I opened my eyes and watched Emmett's game on the television screen.

I suppose I would have to find out with time. Only, time felt too precious to wait. Once again, I looked over at Edward, wondering what my new feelings for his wife would bring out in him.

For once, I didn't give a damn.

**A/N:**** So, what did everyone think?**** This will end up being a Jasper/Renesmee story and is a collaboration between Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope you like it!**

**If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!**

**To see more, go to either page: Xo BellaItalia oX **_or _**Xo Bella's Collaborations oX **

**Check out my other stories!**

'Attempting to Covet'  
'Dhampir'** COMPLETED!**  
'Far Fetched Realities'  
'Mirror Image'  
'Other Worldly Beauty'  
'Dhampir: Broken Moonlight'** (SEQUEL) **  
'Perplexing Revelations'  
'Unimaginable Outcomes'  
'Pretexting'  
'You Promised Me Forever  
'The Heart's Desire'**  
**'Intricate Beauty'  
'Never What It Seems'**  
**'The Major'  
'Twilight ReVAMPed'

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'Flashbacks'**  
**'Unbreakable Faith'**  
**'The Alpha's Mate, Crystal'  
'The Chronicles of the Fallen'** NEW!****  
**'How You Make Me Feel'  
'Undisclosed Desires'

**If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Twilight stories that involve Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selected male leads if anyone is looking for a Beta Reader. I will make exceptions on the characters depending on the plot. I am also now accepting Phantom of the Opera FanFictions that include Erik! I will also be accepting Bones featuring Agent Seeley Booth, Dawson's Creek, Titanic FanFictions featuring Jack, Snow White and the Huntsman featuring Snow White or Eric (the huntsman), The Ghost Whisperer that feature Melinda and Law and Order SVU that feature Elliot. I will accept OC characters as well depending on the other lead character. PM me for details!  
**_- Bella'Xo  
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**Take a check in with VampSaxAngel's stories!**

**We Will Never Hurt Again (J/B)**

**Till Death by Fire Do Us Part: ^sequel (J/B)**

**Fly or Fall**

**His Chosen **

**Ring of Fire**

**Reborn Through Twilight **

**Winter Month's Secrets**

**Dark Betrayal ^Sequel**

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**Seven Minutes**

**I'll Fight For Us**

**Hole in My Heart**

**Feel His Love**

**Ended Torture**

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	2. He Knows

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews.**

**Chapter 2  
****(Jasper's POV)**

Two weeks passed, things only seemed to get worse. It was not only with Bella's condition, but here around the house as well. It was all utter chaos between Alice's visions acting up causing her to become frustrated, Edward and Rosalie's constant arguing and bickering about the baby and the large rift that had divided the family. It was all so utterly emotionally exhausting.

When Edward had learned about Bella's plan to keep the baby, all hell broke loose. He had begged Carlisle to just sedate her if he had to and get that _thing_ out of her. The way that he spoke of the baby only served to agitate not only her, but several members of the family, including myself.

Edward was hysterical upon learning of Bella's plans on keeping the baby. I'd never felt his emotions so erratic before and I almost felt bad for him if it wasn't for the fact that he was trying to kill off his own unborn child.

…_flashback…_

"_From this point on, Rosalie will prevent anyone from interfering with my pregnancy. I know you all have your own beliefs regarding what you think should be done, but I have made my decision. I don't care how dangerous some of you think that this is; I'm willing to take my chances. I want this baby." She turned her focus toward Edward's crestfallen expression. "I want your baby."_

_He appeared calm on the outside, but inside he was a whirlwind of emotions struggling from panic to heartbreak._

_He approached the couch where Bella and I were sitting with her curled up into my side, her fingers interwoven into the side of my shirt. "Bella, love…we don't know what that is inside of you. It will kill you."_

_Her eyes seemed to glaze over with tears. "No," she shook her head. "I don't think so. This baby is a part of you, of all of the things that make you you and all of the things that I love about you. It's the best gift that you could have ever given me." She briefly paused and switched to a different tactic. "You've said so yourself, that you wished that we had the potential to have a child and look! We do! We have one right here growing inside of me. You want this too, Edward."_

_He didn't say anything for a second as a scowl slowly appeared on his face. "I don't want it." His guttural voice was full of wrath and his words stunned all of us, along with Bella and caused her more pain than I'd ever felt from her. Large drops of tears began to fall down her eyes and I pulled her close to me, whipping under her eyes with the pad of my thumb. _

_He felt no shame in his words and I looked at him along with the rest of the family, who were still too stunned to speak. _

_Finally, Bella began to shake her head in denial and broke the silence with her rebuttal. "Yes, yes you do want this baby," she stressed the word. "Our baby – a part of our love, a part of you and a part of me too." _

_He didn't even give her words time to sink in before he retaliated. "Bella, it's too dangerous. I will not lose you!"_

"_You won't! And I don't care if it's too dangerous, I want our baby to live and I want you to promise me that you will not force me to do otherwise!" She was so self-assured and confident in what she wanted. I couldn't help but feel proud of her and I knew that I would be on her side with having her child. It was a very rare gift that they have been granted. Not only that, but whatever this was that was happening to me regarding Bella for whatever reason was pushing me to fight for this baby to be born._

_His head dropped as he shook it in refusal. "I can't make that promise to you, Bella."_

_She squared off her shoulders and leveled her gaze at him. "Then if you can't make that promise to me then I have no choice but to keep both Rosalie and Jasper at my sides so that you will not force your choice on me."_

_He looked at Rosalie first causing Emmett to tense, and watched as she crossed her arms over her chest and sneered at him before looking towards me as Alice spoke while Carlisle and Esme stood silently behind her in the background. "Jazz?" _

'_**I won't let you harm the child, Edward,'** I thought to him and kept my eyes on him as I spoke. "Alice, I will not let anything happen to this child. It's Bella's decision and something inside of me is telling me that she is making the right decision and I will help her in any way that I can." _

_I kept my eyes on him as he glowered at me before focusing back on his wife, who still had her leveled gaze directed on him. "So what are you saying? That you need a pair of body guards to protect you from your own husband? That is ridiculous, Bella!"_

"_It appears that way, doesn't it?" she challenged him._

_He growled stubbornly. "But why?" _

"_Because you've made your opinions on this matter very clear and I can't afford to have you force your choices on me by taking advantage of my many vulnerabilities." She stated clearly as she lovingly touched her stomach._

_We all knew that she was right. He has always forced his choices on her regarding anything that he deemed 'too dangerous'. If she didn't have some kind of protection from him right now, I could picture him taking her away and having the child removed from her forcefully. He knew that she would probably never love him the same after that, but he would chance it. _

_He stood up from in front of her on the floor causing me to tense and Emmett to stand up and move next to Rosalie. _

_He looked at each of us and sighed. "Will you be leaving? Or hiding from me?"_

"_No, are you?" She snarked and I had to do my best to keep from smirking at her antics. _

_Edward even shook his head at the absurdity of her antics and let out an exaggerated sigh. "Then for today, neither of us will give in. We seem to be at an impasse." He then leaned in and kissed her forehead before turning and walking out of the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard. _

_We all remained quiet and exchanged glances, except for Bella who rubbed her small baby bump affectionately as she spoke. "Don't worry about him, my little nudger. Everything will be fine. He'll be okay in the end and I bet that he'll even be glad about all of this." _

…_End flashback…_

As I sat here next to Bella on the couch with her curled under my arm, I also recalled the discussions that we all had about the possibilities regarding the baby. It was another stressful conversation where the emotions were all bouncing around and the tempers were running high.

…_flashback…_

"_What's inside of her, Carlisle?" Edward asked him desperately. He was on a quest or answers that he had so desperately needed, especially after the earlier conversation regarding Bella's decision to keep the baby._

"_I'm not sure." Carlisle sighed as he took in a deep breath. "I've researched the matter as soon as I got off of the phone with the two of you the first time you called from Isle Esme. I haven't found anything like you and Bella anywhere in the writings, but I'm still combing through everything I can get my hands on."_

_Footsteps were then heard coming into the living room and we recognized the heart beat as Bella accompanied with Rosalie and Esme on each side as they helped her cross the room toward the couch from another trip to the bathroom._

_Edward then turned to Alice in distress. "Alice, can you tell me anything? Have you seen anything that can tell us what is going to happen or what is going on with my wife?"_

"_I can't see anything, Edward." Her trilling musical voice was higher than normal indicating to her distress and her emotions were pushing out waves of her fear and frustration. "Every time I look for Bella, I can't see her! I can see around her, but not her! She is just a black mass of nothing!"_

"_What do you mean you can't see me?" Bella was standing near the couch where I was leaning against the arm of the sofa. She began walking towards Edward, pushing away from Rosalie who hesitated to let her go as she held on to Bella's arms. Edward looked ready to push Rose out of the way when Emmett suddenly appeared in the space in between them, putting an end to whatever attempts that he would have made. _

"_I'm not really sure how to go about explaining this, this has never happened to me before." Alice shot a look at Edward, clearly speaking to him via her thoughts before turning her attention back to Bella. "Well, you know how I can't see you when you're with the mutts? It's almost the same thing, only I can see everyone around you except for you. But when I look directly into your future, I get nothing."_

"_I don't understand? What does that mean?" Bella asked placing her hand protectively on her stomach._

"_It means that it isn't anything good." Edward growled causing me to snarl in his direction. I started doing this every time he said something like that regarding the baby. I couldn't stand how demeaning he was being. _

"_No, I don't believe that." Bella spoke very lucid and calmly, running each word together as if it were an entire sentence as she affectionately rubbed her baby bump. _

_Rosalie immediately moved to comfort Bella. "It just means that the baby is something that Alice has never seen before."_

"_They're special," I agreed and gently rubbed her belly affectionately causing her to look down and smile at me._

_It was then that I could feel Edward's fury take control as his muscles tensed, ready to spring forward and devour all those who stood in his way of getting what he deemed necessary to do in order to rid the baby from its mother's womb. He shifted his body in front of Bella to stop Rosalie's advance, his hands curled into claws at his sides as he lowered his stance. _

_Emmett watched his every movement and shouted at him, "Calm down, Edward!"_

_I quickly made it to Bella's side and charged the room with peace and calmness. It was then that I noticed that the family had been divided, choosing their sides as Rose, Bella, Emmett and Esme and I on one side with Alice and Edward on the other. Carlisle stood in the middle, half way in between Esme and Edward. It was the tensest moment that the seven of us had ever had as a family. _

_I continued sending out waves of calmness as Bella reached forward and took Edward's arm rubbing it softly and affectionately as she looked up into his eyes pleadingly. "Edward, please… you can't do this."_

_I felt the resignation flow through his emotions as he finally let the peace and calm that I had been sending do it's intended work causing him to stand from his ready position. He sighed and looked toward Rosalie and me._

"_I'm sorry," he sighed. "I know that you are both just following Bella's wishes. Emmett, you can relax. Esme, I apologize for my behavior, it was inexcusable. I apologize to all of you and I promise that I won't let my emotions get the best of me again." _

_He remained patient until we all accepted his apology, some of us more begrudgingly than others, but he was still over all forgiven. _

_From there we all went to speak about our options, but I could feel it in Edward's emotions that he wasn't being exactly honest when it came to how suddenly agreeable he had become. I knew that I wasn't the only one who had suspicions, because I noticed that the entire time we spoke while Bella ate, her eyes were on him in a leery, distrustful manner._

…_End flashback…_

There was so much going on, that Edward didn't even notice how increasingly close that Bella and I were becoming. It was almost like we weren't at peace unless we were together.

I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of an engine making its way up the driveway. I knew that it wasn't a car, because it wasn't loud enough.

I felt Alice's irritation spike from upstairs before she flitted down the steps with Edward on her tail. Rosalie stood and met them half way across the room before they could get any closer to Bella as I gripped her tighter to my side.

"It's okay guys," Bella

"What is it, Alice?" I asked worriedly.

"It's that mutt, or it has to be. Everyone's futures just went black." She huffed as she collapsed onto the loveseat that sat diagonal from the couch that Bella and I were resting on.

"Oh great, what's that flee bag doing here?" Rosalie grimaced as she looked up once again from her magazine as she sat on the floor in front of Bella as she leaned on the sofa.

"Hey, that's not very nice," Bella reprimanded them, "Jake's my friend."

I pushed my gift out to feel his emotions and noticed that it was full of malice, revenge, fury and anger.

'_Edward,'_ I thought as I relayed what I picked up from his emotions.

He nodded tiredly agreeing with my assessment. "His thoughts are focused on his task. He thinks that we have changed Bella and that is why they were told that she was sick. Since Sam won't attack us, he believes that it is his duty to kill us." We growled as Bella gasped.

"Well when he sees that we were telling the truth and that I haven't been changed, there won't be any trouble." She reasoned.

"I don't think that he should 'see' anything." Rose protested, but didn't get to say more as Edward continued to listen to the mutt's thoughts, relaying them to us.

"He is being very egotistical and theatrical. He plans to challenge me to a duel and after he kills me he plans to kill out the rest of us." He sighed as he paused again. "Now he is complaining about our scent and just about everything else. He even went as far as calling our home a 'crypt'."

Emmett snorted as he tried to conceal his half-hearted laughter as Rosalie smacked the back of his head. "Knock it off!" She snapped at him.

It was then that the engine to what I learned was his motorcycle turned off and I watched from my spot on the couch through the large glass windows as he bounded up the porch stairs in one bound.

Carlisle begrudgingly rose from his chair and placed his book that he was using for research on the coffee table. He seemed exhausted as he moved to the front door, answering it even before the wolf had the chance to knock.

"Hello Jacob," he said in a calm manner, though you could tell that he was as whipped out as the rest of us.

I could hear Jacob take a deep breath, feeling slight disappointment even as he spoke. I wondered briefly what that was about?

"I heard Bella made it back alive," he said uncomfortably.

"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time." Carlisle said awkwardly. "Could we do this later?"

I could feel Jacob's puzzlement in his emotions and dumbfoundedness.

It was then that Bella's rough and cracked voice echoed from beside me. "Why not?" She asked. "Are we keeping secrets from Jacob too? What's the point?" Her voice was clearly not what Jacob had been expecting. "Come in, please, Jacob," Bella croaked more loudly and I pulled her against me in a protective manner, not liking this at all as everyone aside from Bella stood, ready for anything that was bound to happen when this love sick pup learned what was happening to the girl of his obsession.

**(Jacob's POV)**

I sidestepped into the house, keeping my back to the wall. My eyes swept the room – it was unfamiliar. The last time I'd been here it had been all done up for a party. Everything was bright and pale now, including the six vampires standing in a group by the white sofa.

They were all here, all tighter, but that was not what froze me where I stood and had my jaw dropping to the floor.

It was Edward. It was the expression on his face.

I'd seen him angry, and I'd seen him arrogant, and once I'd seen him in pain. But this – this was beyond agony. His eyes were half-crazed. He didn't look up to glare at me. He stared down at the couch beside him with an expression like someone had lit him on fire. His hands were rigid claws at his side.

I couldn't even enjoy his anguish. I could only think of one thing that would make him look like that, and my eyes followed his.

I saw her at the same moment that I caught her scent; her warm, clean, human scent. Bella was half-hidden behind the arm of the sofa, curled up in a loose fetal position, her arms wrapped around her knees. For a long second I could see nothing except that she was still the Bella that I loved, her skin still a soft, pale peach, her eyes still the same chocolate brown. My heart thudded a strange, broken meter and I wondered if this was just some lying dream that I was about to wake up from.

Then I really saw her.

There were deep circles under her eyes, dark circles that jumped out because her face was all haggard. Was she thinner? Her skin seemed tight – like her cheekbones might break right through it. Most of her dark hair was pulled away from her face into a messy knot, but a few strands stuck limply to her forehead and neck, to the sheen of sweat that covered her skin. There was something about her fingers and wrists that looked so fragile it was scary.

She was sick. Very sick.

Not a lie. The story that Charlie had told Billy was not a story. While I stared, eyes bugging, her skin turned light green.

The two blond bloodsuckers – the showy one, Rosalie and the scarred badass one, Jasper – were bent over her, cutting into my view, hovering in a strange, protective way; Jasper more so than Rosalie, but she still seemed out for blood if she sensed a threat. _Excuse my literal wording._

This was wrong. I knew how Bella felt about almost everything – her thoughts were so obvious; sometimes it was like they were printed on her forehead. So she didn't have to tell me every detail of a situation for me to get it. I knew that Bella didn't like Rosalie. I'd seen it in the set of her lips when she talked about her. Not just that she didn't like her, she was afraid of Rosalie. Or she had been. And the other one; I knew that she never really had much interaction with Jasper, especially after he almost attacked her on her birthday.

There was no fear as Bella glanced up at the blond Barbie now. Her expression was… apologetic or something. Then Rosalie snatched a basin from the floor and held it under Bella's chin just in time for Bella to throw up noisily into it as Jasper ran his fingers calmly through her hair affectionately in an almost loving manner. Yet I knew that his senses were still trained on the room around him and that no one would ever have been able to sneak up on him, regardless of where his attention seemed to lie.

Edward fell to his knees by Bella's side – his eyes all tortured looking – and Rosalie held out her hand, warning him to keep back as Jasper growled dangerously under his breath. None of this made sense!

When she could raise her head, Bella smiled weakly at me, sort of embarrassed. "Sorry about that," she whispered to me.

Edward moaned real quiet. His head slumped against Bella's knees. She put one of her hands against his cheek, like she was comforting him.

I didn't realize my legs had carried me forward until Jasper snarled at me, suddenly appearing between me and the couch.

"Jasper, don't," Bella whispered. "It's fine."

He moved out of my way and back to Bella's side, only for Rosalie to remain standing in front of Bella halting my advance.

"Really Rose, it's fine." Bella pressed.

Blondie, begrudgingly let me pass, though I could tell she hated to do it. Scowling at me, she crouched by Bella's head, tensed to spring. She was easier to ignore than I ever would have dreamed, though I couldn't help but to notice Jasper as he seemed to hold on to her as she curled into him. What was that about?

"Bella, what's wrong?" I whispered. Without thinking about it, I found myself on my knees too, leaning over the back of the couch across from her…husband. He didn't seem to notice me, and I barely glanced at him. I reached out for her free hand, taking it in both of mine. Her skin was icy. "Are you all right?"

It was a stupid question. She didn't answer it.

"I'm so glad that you came to see me today, Jacob," she said.

Even though I knew Edward couldn't hear her thoughts, he seemed to hear some meaning I didn't. He moaned again, into the blanket that covered her, and she stroked his cheek.

"What is it, Bella?" I insisted, wrapping my hands tight around her cold, gragile fingers.

Instead of answering, she glanced around the room like she was searching for something, both a plea and a warning in her look. Six pairs of anxious yellow eyes stared back at her. Finally, she turned to her two 'body guards'.

"Help me up?" she asked.

Rosalie's lips pulled back over her teeth and she glared up at me like she wanted to rip my throat out while Jasper looked down at her worriedly, but agreed, though I had a feeling he was going to be on his guard.

"Please, Rose?"

The blond made a face, but leaned over her again, next to Edward, who didn't move an inch. She put her arm carefully behind Bella's shoulders.

"No," I whispered. "Don't get up…" She looked so weak.

"I'm answering your questions," she snapped, sounding a bit more like the way she usually talked to me.

Rosalie pulled Bella off the couch as Jasper helped balance with his hands protectively on her waist. Edward stayed where he was, sagging forward till his face was buried in the cushions. The blanket fell to the ground at Bella's feet.

Bella's body was swollen, her torso ballooning out in a strange, sick way. It strained against the faded gray sweatshirt that was way too big for her shoulders and arms. The rest of her seemed thinner, like the big bulge had grown out of what it had sucked from her. It took me a second to realize what the deformed part was – I didn't understand until she folded her hands tenderly around her bloated stomach, one above and one below, like she was cradling it.

I saw it then, but I still couldn't believe it. I'd seen her just a month ago. There was no way she could be pregnant. Not that pregnant.

Except that she was.

I didn't want to see this, didn't want to think about this. I didn't want to imagine him inside her. I didn't want to know that something I hated so much had taken root in the body I loved.

My stomach heaved and I had to swallow back vomit.

But it was worse than that, so much worse. Her distorted body, the bones jabbing against the skin of her face. I could only guess that she looked like this – so pregnant, so sick – because whatever was inside her was taking her life to feed its own.

Because it was a monster. Just like it's father. I always knew her would kill her.

**A/N:**** So, there it is. Chapter two is up and I'm dying to hear your thoughts! Read and review! If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews.**

**she is brighter****:**** Love the story but why is the relationship Bella and jasper ?**

_I have it posted Bella/Jasper for now, because for now we are writing about the relationship that Bella and Jasper have throughout her pregnancy. When Renesmee is born the pairing will be switched to Jasper/Renesmee._

**MsPeaceHope****: ****I like it, but how come Edward doesn't notice the way Jasper is acting around Bella? It's really good, can't wait for the next chapter! :)**

_Edward doesn't notice because he has enough on his plate right now and he knows that Bella loves him. You will understand more in time, but for now I don't want to ruin anything. _

_**VSA here! There's some answers to some reader's questions. I kept them up just in case anyone else was wandering any of the info above J This chapter was written by XoBellaItaliaoX. Please, leave and review, I would love to hear your thoughts J Also, I am working on the first chapter for my next story right now, and should be uploading it soon, as well as updating Till Death by Fire Do Us Part. **_

_**~Much Love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX**_

**Take a check in with VampSaxAngel's stories!**

**We Will Never Hurt Again (J/B)**

**Till Death by Fire Do Us Part: ^sequel (J/B)**

**Fly or Fall**

**His Chosen **

**Ring of Fire**

**Reborn Through Twilight **

**Winter Month's Secrets**

**Dark Betrayal ^Sequel**

**Devil Summer**

**Devil Rising ^Sequel**

**Seven Minutes**

**I'll Fight For Us**

**Hole in My Heart**

**Feel His Love**

**Ended Torture**

**PM me or review with any questions! ~Much Love**


	3. And He's Gone Ideas in His Head

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews.**

_**(Jacob's POV)  
**_

_**Previously…**_

_I saw it then, but I still couldn't believe it. I'd seen her just a month ago. There was no way she could be pregnant. Not that pregnant._

_Except that she was._

_I didn't want to see this, didn't want to think about this. I didn't want to imagine him inside her. I didn't want to know that something I hated so much had taken root in the body I loved._

_My stomach heaved and I had to swallow back vomit._

_But it was worse than that, so much worse. Her distorted body, the bones jabbing against the skin of her face. I could only guess that she looked like this – so pregnant, so sick – because whatever was inside her was taking her life to feed its own._

_Because it was a monster. Just like it's father. I always knew her would kill her._

**Chapter 3  
**

**(Jacob's POV)**

Edward's head snapped up as he heard the words in my thoughts. One second we were both on our knees and then he was on his feet, towering over me. His eyes were flat black, the circles under them dark purple.

"Outside Jacob," he snarled.

I was on my feet too, looking down on him now. This was why I was here.

"Let's do this," I agreed.

The big on, Emmett, pushed forward on Edward's other side with Jasper right behind him crouched in front of Bella growling a deep rumbling sound that echoed and shook the house. I really didn't care. Maybe my pack would clean up the scraps when they finished me off. Maybe not. It didn't matter, though I doubt they would be able to take down the scarred leach regardless. I'll admit that he was a bad mother fucker.

For the tiniest part of a second, my eyes touched the two standing in the back, Esme and Alice. There were small and distractingly feminine. Well, I was sure the others would kill me before I had to do anything about them. I didn't want to kill girls, even vampire girls, though I have to admit that I might make an exception for that blonde.

"No," Bella gasped peaking around Jasper before she stumbled forward, out of balance to clutch at Edward's arm. Jasper moved with her, like there was a chain locking them to each other.

"I just need to talk to him, Bella," Edward said in a low voice, talking to only her. He reached up to touch her face, to stroke it. This just made the room turn red, made me see fire – that, after all he'd done to her, he was still allowed to touch her that way. "Don't strain yourself," he went on pleadingly. "Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes."

She stared at his face, reading it carefully. Then she nodded and drooped toward the couch, clutching on to Jasper's arm as he helped lower he back onto the cushions while Rosalie covered her with a blanket.

Bella stared at me, trying to hold my eyes as she continued to clutch onto Jasper's arm like a lifeline. "Behave," she insisted. "And then come back."

I didn't answer. I wasn't making any promises today.

I looked away and then followed Edward out the front door. A random, disjointed voice in my head noted that separating him from the coven hadn't been so difficult, had it?

He kept walking, never checking to see if I was about to spring at his unprotected back. I supposed he didn't need to check. He would know when I decided to attack. That only meant that I'd have to make that decision very quickly.

"I'm not ready for you to kill me yet, Jacob Black," he whispered as he paced quickly away from the house. "You'll have to have a little patience."

I snorted to myself; like I gave a flying fuck about his schedule. I growled under my breath. "Patience isn't my specialty."

He kept walking, maybe a couple hundred yards down the drive away from the house with me right on his heels. I was hot, my fingers trembling, on the edge, ready and waiting.

He stopped without warning and pivoted to face me. His expression froze me again and for a second I was just a kid – a kid who had lived all his life in the same tiny town, just a child. Because I knew that I would have to live a lot more, suffer a lot more, to ever understand the searing agony in Edward's eyes.

He raised a hand as if to wipe sweat from his forehead, but his fingers scraped against his face like they were going to rip his granite skin right off. His black eyes burned in their sockets, out of focus, or seeing things that weren't there. His mouth opened like he was going to scream, but nothing came out.

This was the face a man who have if he were burning at the stake.

For a moment I couldn't speak. It was too real, this face – I'd seen a shadow of it in the house, seen it in her eyes and his, but this made it final. The last nail in her coffin.

"It's killing her, right? She's dying." And I knew when I said it that my face was a watered-down echo of his. It was weaker, different, because I was still in shock. I hadn't wrapped my head around it yet – it was happening too fast. He'd had time to get to this point. And it was different because I'd already lost her so many times, in so many ways, in my head. And different because she was never really mine to lose. And different because _this wasn't_ _my fault_.

"My fault," Edward whispered and his knees gave out. He crumpled in front of me, vulnerable, the easiest target you could imagine.

But I felt as snow – there was no fire in me.

"Yes," he groaned into the dirt like he was confessing to the ground. "Yes, it's killing her."

His broken helplessness irritated me. I wanted a fight, not an execution. Where was his smug superiority now?

"So why hasn't Carlisle done anything?" I growled. "He's a doctor, right? Get it out of her!"

He looked up then and answered me in a tired voice. It was like he was explaining this to a kindergartener for the tenth time. _"She won't let us."_

It took a minute for the words to sink in. Jeez, she was running true to form. Of course, die for the monster spawn. It was so Bella.

"You know her well," he whispered. "How quickly you see… I didn't see. Not in time. She wouldn't talk to me on the way home, not really. I thought she was frightened – that would be natural. I thought she was angry with me for putting her through this, for endangering her life, again. I never imagined what she was really thinking, what she was resolving. Not until my family met us at the airport and she ran right into Jasper's arms and wouldn't let go. _Jasper's!_ I noticed the way that Rosalie was hovering over her as she clung to Jasper's shirt, curled up into his chest. It wasn't until we had gotten home that I heard what Rosalie was thinking. I didn't understand until I heard that. Yet you understand after one second…" he half sighed, half groaned.

"Just back up a second. She won't _let_ you?" The sarcasm was like acid on my tongue. "Did you ever notice that she's exactly as strong as a normal hundred and ten pound human girl? How stupid are you vamps? Hold her down and know her out with drugs."

"I wanted to," he whispered. "Carlisle was hesitant about it, but he would have…" _What, too noble were they?_

"No, not noble. Her bodyguards complicated things."

Oh. His story hadn't made much sense before but it fit together now. So that's what Blondie was up to. I didn't understand the other leech's angle, but Rosalie's was becoming clearer. What was in it for her, though? Did the beauty queen want Bella to die so bad?

"Maybe," he said. "Rosalie doesn't look at it quite that way. As for Jasper, I'm not sure. Since we came back, it's like he has some cosmic connection with her and the baby. He isn't sure and it's really puzzling him, but he's not questioning it. He's just going along with what he feels he has to do. It's mystifying all of us."

"So take the blonde out first before you team up on the other leech. Your kind can be put back together, right? Turn them into a jigsaw and take care of Bella."

"Emmett and Esme are backing them up. Not to mention that Jasper is untouchable. He has his reputation for a reason." He sighed, "Alice has tried and can't get him to change his mind. As for Rosalie, Emmett would never let us… and Carlisle won't help me with Esme against it…" he trailed off, his voice disappearing.

"You should have left Bella with me." I grumbled.

"Yes." He murmured in exasperation.

It was a bit late for that though. Maybe he should have thought about all this before he knocked her up with the life-sucking monster.

He stared up at me from inside his own personal hell and I could see that he agreed with me. "We didn't know," he said, the words as quiet as a breath. "I never dreamed. There's never been anything like Bella and I before. How could we know that a human was able to conceive a child with one of us -"

"When the human should get ripped to shreds in the process?"

"Yes," he agreed in a tense whisper. "They're out there, the sadistic ones, the incubus, the succubus. They exist. But the seduction is merely a prelude to the feast. No one survives." He shook his head like the idea revolted him. _Like he was any different._

"I didn't realize they had a special name for what you are," I spat.

He stared up at me with a face that looked a thousand years old. "Even you, Jacob Black, cannot hate me as much as I hate myself." _Wrong_, I thought, too enraged to speak. "Killing me now doesn't save her," he said quietly.

"So what does?"

He looked at me desperately. "Jacob, you have to do something for me."

"The hell I do, parasite!" I snapped.

He kept staring at me with those half-tired, half-crazy eyes. "For her?"

I clenched my teeth together hard. "I did everything I could to keep her away from you. Every single thing. It's too late."

"You know her, Jacob. You connect to her on a level that I don't even understand. You are part of her and she is part of you. She won't listen to me, because she thinks I'm underestimating her. She thinks she's strong enough for this…" He choked and then swallowed. "She might listen to you."

"Why would she?"

He lurched to his feet, his eyes burning brighter than before, wilder. I wondered if he was really going crazy. _Could vampires lose their minds?_

"Maybe," he answered my thought. "I don't know. It feels like it." He shook his head. "I have to try to hide this in front of her, because stress makes her more ill. She can't keep anything down as it is. I have to be composed; I can't make it harder. But that doesn't matter now. She has to listen to you!"

"I can't tell her anything that you haven't. What do you want me to do? Tell her that she's stupid? She probably already knows that. Tell her that she's going to die? I bet that she knows that too."

"You can offer her what she wants." He wasn't making any sense. _Part of the crazy? _"I don't care about anything but keeping her alive," he said, suddenly focused now. "If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants." He paused for one beat. "She can even have puppies if that's what it takes."

He met my stare for a moment and his face was frenzied under the thin layer of control. My hard scowl crumbled as I processed his words and I felt my mouth pop open in shock.

"But not this way!" he hissed before I could recover. "Not this thing that's sucking the life from her while I stand there helpless! Watching her sicken and waste away, seeing it hurting her." He sucked in a fast breath like someone had punched him in the gut. "You have to make her see reason, Jacob. She won't listen to me anymore. Jasper won't leave her side, but he's not so much the problem as Rosalie is! He at least cares about Bella. She's always there, feeding her insanity – encouraging her, protecting her. No, protecting it. Bella's life means nothing to her."

The noise coming from my throat sounded like I was choking. _What was he saying? That Bella should, what? Have a baby? With me? What? How? Was he giving her up? Or did he think she wouldn't mind being shared?_

"Whichever! Whatever keeps her alive."

"That's the craziest thing you've said yet," I mumbled. "She loves you."

He shook his head. "Not enough. She's ready to die to have a child. Maybe she'd accept something less extreme."

"Don't you know her at all?"

"I know, I know. It's going to take a lot of convincing." He declared. "That's why I need you. You know how she thinks. Make her see sense."

I couldn't think about what he was suggesting. It was too much. Impossible. Wrong. Sick. Borrowing Bella for the weekends and then returning her Monday morning like a rental movie? So messed up.

_So tempting_…

I didn't want to consider, didn't want to imagine, but the images came anyway. I'd fantasized about Bella that way too many times, back when there was still a possibility of us and then long after it was clear that the fantasies would only leave festering sores because there was no possibility, none at all. I hadn't been able to help myself then. I couldn't stop myself now.

Bella in _my_ arms, Bella sighing _my_ name…

Worse still, this new image I'd never had before, one that by all rights shouldn't have existed for me, not yet. An image I knew I would've suffered over for years if he hadn't shoved it in my head right now. But it stuck there, winding threads through my brain like a weed – poisonous and unkillable. Bella, healthy and glowing, so different than now, but something the dame: he body, not distorted, changed in a more natural way. Round with _my_ child.

I tried to escape the venomous weed in my mind. "Make Bella see sense? What universe to you live in?"

"At least _try_." He pleaded.

I shook my head fast. He waited, ignoring the negative answer because he could hear the confliction in my thoughts. "Where is this psychobabble crap coming from? Are you making this up as you go?"

"I've been thinking of nothing but ways to save her since I realized what she was planning to do. What she would _die_ to do. But I didn't know how to contact you. I knew you wouldn't listen if I called. I would have come to find you soon if you hadn't come today. But it's hard to leave her, even for a few minutes. Her condition…it changes so fast. The thing is…growing…swiftly. I can't be away from her now."

"What is it?" I asked.

"None of us have any idea. But it is stronger than she is already."

I could suddenly see it then – see the swelling monster in my head, breaking her from the inside out.

"Help me stop it," he whispered. "Help me stop this from happening."

"How? By offering my stud services?" He didn't even flinch when I said that, but I did. "You're really sick. She'll never listen to this."

"_Try_. There's nothing to lose now. How will it hurt?" _It would hurt __me__. Hadn't I taken enough rejection from Bella without this? _"A little pain to save her? Is it such a high cost?" He probed.

"But it won't work."

"Maybe not. Maybe it will confuse her though. Maybe she'll falter in her resolve. One moment of doubt is all I need." He pressed.

"And then you pull the rug out from under the offer? _'Just kidding, Bella?'_" I mimicked him.

"If she wants a child, that's what she gets. I won't rescind."

I couldn't believe I was even thinking about this. Bella would punch me – not that I cared about that, but it would probably break her hand again. I shouldn't let him talk to me, mess with my head. I should just kill him now.

"Not now," he whispered. "Not yet. Right or wrong, it would destroy her and you know it. No need to be hasty. If she won't listen to you, you'll get your chance. The moment Bella's heart stops beating I will be begging for you to kill me."

"You won't have to beg long." I mumbled.

The hint of a worn smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'm very much counting on that."

"Then we have a deal."

He nodded and held out his cold stone hand. Swallowing my disgust, I reached out to take his hand. My fingers closed around the rock and I shook it once.

"We have a deal."

._.-:'~ Instinctual Reactions ~':-._.

I felt like – like I don't know what. Like this wasn't real. Like I was in some Goth version of a bad sitcom. Instead of being the A/V dweeb about to ask the head cheerleader to the prom, I was the finished-second-place werewolf about to ask the vampire's wife to shack up and procreate. _Nice._

No, I wouldn't do it. It was twisted and wrong. I was going to forget all about what he'd said.

But I would talk to her. I'd try to make her listen to me. And she wouldn't, just like always.

Edward didn't answer or comment on my thoughts as he led the way back to the house. I wondered about the place that he'd chosen to stop. Was it far enough from the house that the others wouldn't hear his whispers? Was that the point? Maybe.

When we walked through the door, the other Cullen's' eyes were suspicious and confused. No one looked disgusted or outraged. So they must not have heard either favor Edward had asked of me.

I hesitated in the open doorway, not sure what to do now. It was better right there, with a little breathable air blowing in from outside.

Edward walked into the middle of the huddle, shoulders stiff. Bella watched him anxiously and then their eyes flickered to me for a second. Then she was watching him again.

Her face turned a grayish pale and I could see what he meant about the stress making her feel worse.

"We're going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately," Edward said. There was no inflection at all in his voice, it was robotic.

"Over my pile of ashes," Rosalie hissed at him while Bella and Jasper were still cuddled on the couch as they looked at each other anxiously with slight panic in their features. She was still hovering by Bella's head, one of her cold hands placed possessively on Bella's shallow cheek.

Edward didn't look at her. "Bella," he said in that same empty tone. "Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?"

Bella looked at me confused. The she looked at Rosalie. "Rose, it's fine. Jakes not going to hurt us. Go with Edward."

"It might be a trick," the blonde warned.

"I don't see how," Bella said.

"Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie," Edward said. The emotionless voice was cracking, showing the anger through it. "We're the ones she's afraid of."

"No," Bella whispered. Her eyes were glistening, her lashes wet. "No, Edward. I'm not…"

He shook his head, smiling a little. The smile was painful to look at. "I didn't mean it that way, Bella. I'm fine, don't worry about me."

_Sickening…_

He was right – she was beating herself up about hurting his feelings. The girl was a classic martyr. She'd been born in the wrong century. She should have lived back when she could have gotten herself fed to some lions for a good cause.

"Everyone," Edward said, his hand stiffly motioning toward the door. "Please." The composure he was trying to keep up for Bella was shaky. I could see how close he was to that burning man he'd been outside. The others saw it too.

Silently, they moved out the door while I shifted out of the way. They moved fast; my heart beat twice and the room was cleared except for Rosalie, who was hesitating in the middle of the floor, Jasper as he looked back and forth anxiously, and Edward, still waiting by the door.

Bella turned toward Jasper first and reached up, gently running her delicate little fingers across his cold, hard cheek.

"It will be okay, Jasper. You will feel my emotions of I need you. Everything will be fine." She soothed him.

He looked between me and Edward before returning his focus back toward Bella. "Something is off, just be careful." He seemed to plead.

This was so freaky. What was going on that they seemed to be almost pained to be away from each other?

"I promise," Bella murmured giving him an encouraging smile. "Now go follow Edward."

He nodded and carefully got up from the couch, tucking her in snuggly before he crossed the room, narrowing his eyes at both Edward and I before he disappeared. Rose, however was more hostile as she continued to stand defiantly in the middle of the room.

"Rose," Bella said quietly. "I want you to go."

The blonde glared at Edward and then gestured for him to go first. He disappeared out the door. She gave me a long warning glower and then she disappeared too.

**(Bella's POV)**

Once we were alone, he crossed the room and sat on the floor next to me. He took both of my hand in his, rubbing them carefully. They were scorching against my own and it felt amazing as they warmed my cold hands.

"Thanks Jake. That feels good."

"I'm not going to lie, Bella. You're hideous."

"I know," I sighed. "I'm scary-looking."

"Thing-from-the-swamp scary," he agreed.

I laughed. "It's so good having you here. It feels nice to smile. I don't know how much more drama I can stand."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay," I agreed. "I bring it on myself."

"Yeah, you do. What're you thinking, Bells? Seriously!"

"Did he ask you to yell at me?" I asked suspiciously.

"Sort of. Though I can't figure why he thinks you'd listen to me. You never have before." He mumbled and I sighed. "I told you-," he started to say.

"Did you know that 'I told you so' has a brother, Jacob?" I asked cutting him off annoyed. "His name is 'Shut the Hell up'."

He snorted. "Good one."

I grinned at him. "I can't take credit – I got it off a rerun of The Simpsons."

"Missed that one."

"It was funny."

We didn't talk for a minute. I felt my hands starting to warm up a little as the feeling began to return little by little.

"Did he really ask you to talk to me?" I asked.

He nodded. "To talk some sense into you. There's a battle that's lost before it starts."

"So, why did you agree?" I asked curiously, but he didn't answer. I wasn't sure that he even knew.

He seemed to drift off in his own thoughts for a moment as his expression started to drop.

"It'll work out, you know," I said after a quiet minute. "I believe that."

His face started to turn red and his hands started to shake around my own before he exploded. "Is dementia one of your symptoms?" He snapped.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Maybe," I said. "I'm not saying things will work out easily, Jake. But how could I have lived through all that I've lived through and not believe in magic by this point?"

"Magic?" He asked quirking a brow.

"Especially for you," I said smiling. I pulled one of my hands away from his and pressed it against his cheek. It was warmer than normal, but it felt cool against his skin, like most things did. "More than anyone else, you've got

some magic waiting to make things right for you."

"What are you babbling about?" He tilted his head, his brow still quirked in befuddlement.

Still smiling, I said, "Edward told me once what it was like – your imprinting thing. He said it was like a midsummer night's dream, like magic. You'll find who you're really looking for, Jacob, and maybe then all this will make sense."

I guess I wasn't making any sense to him because he only seemed to get more upset.

"If you think that imprinting could ever make sense of this insanity…" He growled at me as he struggled for words. "Do you really think that just because I might someday imprint on some stranger it would make this right?" He jabbed a finger toward my swollen body. "Tell me what the point was then, Bella! What was the point of me loving you? What was the point of you loving him? When you die" – the words were a snarl – "how is that ever right again? What's the point to all the pain? Mine, yours, his! You'll kill him too, not that I care about that." I flinched but he just kept going. "So what was the point of your twisted love story in the end? If there is any sense, please show me, Bella, because I don't see it."

I could faintly hear Jasper growling from the other room and as much as it bothered me on top of everything that he said, I kept my cool as I sighed. "I don't know yet Jake," But I just… feel… that this is all going somewhere good, hard to see as it is now. I guess you could call it faith."

"You're dying for nothing, Bella! Nothing!"

My hand dropped from his face to my baby bump as I caressed it. I would give my life for my little nudger in a second, though I honestly didn't think that that would be the case.

"I'm not going to die," I said through my teeth. I felt like I was just repeating myself over and over and no one was listening! "I will keep my heart beating. I'm strong enough for that."

"That's a load of crap, Bella. You've been trying to keep up with the supernatural for too long. No normal person can do it. You're not strong enough." He gently took my face in his hand.

"I can do this, I can do this," I muttered, sounding a lot like that kids book about the little engine that could.

"Doesn't look like it to me. So, what's your plan? I hope you have one."

I nodded, not meeting his eyes. I knew this wasn't something that he was going to like, not one little bit. "Did you know Esme jumped off a cliff? When she was human, I mean."

"So?"

"So, she was close enough to dead that they didn't even bother taking her to the emergency room – they took her right around to the morgue. Her heart was still beating, though, when Carlisle found her…" I drifted off, knowing that he would get where I was going with this.

I looked down again just as realization coated his features before he spoke. "You're not planning on surviving this human." He stated.

"No, I'm not stupid." I met his stare then. "I guess you probably have your own opinion on that point, though."

"Emergency vampirization," he mumbled.

"It worked for Esme. And Emmett, and Rosalie, and even Edward. None of them were in such great shape. Carlisle only changed them because it was that or death. He doesn't end lives, he saves them."

He looked down briefly and I could see the guilt coloring his features. It seemed as though he was finally realizing that not all vampires were bad like a lot of the red eyed human drinkers. But the guilt went away just as fast as it came and he met my eyes once again.

"Listen to me, Bells." He begged. "Don't do it that way." Desperation washed over him as he spoke and it broke my heart to see my best friend reduced to this. "Don't wait until it's too late, Bella. Not that way. Live. Okay? Just live. Don't do this to me. Don't do it to him." His voice got harder, louder. "You know what he's going to do when you die. You've seen it before. You want him to go back to those Italian killers?" I cringed into the sofa. That was a low blow. He seemed to struggle to level out his voice as he spoke softer. "Remember when I got mangled up by those newborns? What did you tell me?" He asked. I let him wait, not wanting to answer as I pressed my lips together. "You told me to be good and listen to Carlisle." He reminded me. "And what did I do? I listened to the vampire. For you."

"You listened because it was the right thing to do." I reminded him.

"Okay – pick either reason."

I took in a deep breath, knowing what he was getting at. "It's not the right thing now." My gaze touched my big round stomach and I felt a burst of love for my little nudger. "I won't kill him."

His hands began to shake again. "Oh, I hadn't heard the great new. A bouncing baby boy, huh? Shoulda brought some blue balloons."

My face turned pink. "I don't know he's a boy," I admitted sheepishly. "The ultrasound wouldn't work. The membrane around the baby is too hard – like their skin. So he's a little mystery. But I always see a boy in my head."

"It's not some pretty baby in there, Bella."

"We'll see," I said almost smug. I knew he was going to be a beautiful little baby and not a demon like Edward kept insisting. I mean Edward and I could never create something so sinister. It's just not possible.

"You won't!" He snarled.

"You're very pessimistic, Jacob. There is definitely a chance that I might walk away from this."

He couldn't seem to answer as he looked down and breathed deep and slow as he tried to calm himself down. I almost felt bad for putting him through this, but I wasn't going to give in on this.

"Jake," I said and patted his hair and stroked his cheek. "It's going to be okay. Shhh…it's okay."

He didn't look up. "No, it will not be okay."

I could feel his cheek getting wet and my throat tightened. "Shh…"

"What's the deal, Bella?" He asked staring down at the pale carpet. "I thought the whole point was that you wanted your vampire more than anything. And now you're just giving him up? That doesn't make any sense. Since when are you desperate to be a mom? If you wanted that so much, why did you marry a vampire?"

I sighed. "It's not like that. I didn't really care about having a baby. I didn't even think about it. It's not just having a baby. It's… well… this baby."

"It's a killer, Bella. Look at yourself."

"He's not." I objected. "It's me. I'm just weak and human. But I can tough this out, Jake, I can-"

"Awe, come on! Shut up, Bella! You can spout this crap to your bloodsucker, but you're not fooling me. You know you're not going to make it."

I glared at him and I could hear Jasper growling in the background once again, but I knew that his family was holding him back. "I do not know that. I'm worried about it, sure."

"Worried about it," he repeated through his teeth.

A burst of pain shot through me and I gasped and clutched at my stomach. His fury vanished like a light switch being turned off.

"I'm fine," I panted as loud as I could so that the vampires in the other room could hear. "It's nothing."

But Jake didn't seem to be paying attention as I had pulled my sweatshirt to the side and he seemed to stare horrified at the skin it exposed. I couldn't really blame him for his reaction though. My stomach looked like it was stained with big splotches of purple-black ink.

As I saw his stare, I quickly yanked the fabric back in place. "He's strong, that's all." I said defensively.

"Bella," he said almost affectionately after several moments. I heard the change in his voice and looked up, still breathing heavy, my eyes obviously showing confusion. "Bella, don't do this."

"Jake –"

"Listen to me. Don't get your back up yet. Okay? Just listen. What if…?"

I looked at him skeptically. "What if what?"

"What if this wasn't a one-shot deal? What if it wasn't all or nothing? What if you just listened to Carlisle like a good girl and kept yourself alive?"

I immediately began to object, "I won't-"

"I'm not done yet." He interrupted and started again. "So you stay alive. Then you can start over. This didn't work out. Try again."

I frowned completely flabbergasted. What the heck was he talking about? Try again? But I'll just end up in the same spot I am now. He wasn't making any sense.

I raised one hand to touch the place where his eyebrows were mashing together. My fingers smoothed his forehead for a moment while I continued to try to make sense of what he was talking about.

"I don't understand… What do you mean 'try again'? You can't think Edward would let me…? And what difference would it make? I'm sure any baby** -**"

"Yes," he snapped. "Any kid of _his_ would be the same."

The more he spoke the more confused I only got. "What?"

It seemed as though he couldn't say any more. I continued to think over everything that he said as I tried to make sense of what he was trying to get at. It was then that the light bulb went off over my head and I blinked.

"Oh. Ugh. Please, Jacob. You think I should kill my baby and replace it with some generic substitute? Artificial insemination?" I was mad now. How dare he suggest such a thing? "Why would I want some stranger's baby? I suppose it just doesn't make a difference? Any baby will do?" Did none of them understand?

"I didn't mean that," he muttered. "Not a stranger."

I leaned forward bemused. "Then what are you saying?"

"Nothing. I'm saying nothing. Same as ever." He snapped before he mumbled at the end.

"Where did that come from?"

"Forget it, Bella." He pressed.

I frowned in suspicion as I began to put two and two together. "Did he tell you to say that?"

He hesitated and I could tell that he was surprised that I figured it all out. "Pffft…no!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "He did, didn't he?" It definitely sounded like something Edward would try to propose.

"No, really. He didn't say anything about artificial whatever."

I felt my face soften then and I sank back against the pillows, no doubt looking as exhausted as I felt. I stared off to the side when I spoke, not talking to him at all but more to myself. "He would do anything for me. And I'm hurting him so much… But what is he thinking? That I would trade this" – my hand traced across my belly – "for some stranger's…" I mumbled the last part and then my voice trailed off. My eyes were wet with tears as the weight of this all began to get to me.

"You don't have to hurt him." He whispered. "You could make him happy again, Bella. And I really think he's losing it. Honestly, I do."

I was only half listening to him as I made small circles on my battered stomach while I chewed on my lip, thinking over everything that he said mixed with what I knew I wanted. It was then that I realized _exactly_ what he said.

"Not a stranger?" I murmured more to myself than him. I noticed him flinch at this out of my peripheral vision.

"What exactly did Edward say to you?" I asked in a low voice.

"Nothing. He just thought you might listen to me."

"Not that. The part about trying again." I clarified locking my eyes with his.

"Nothing."

My mouth fell open a little as I finally understood. "Wow."

It was silent for a few heart beats. He looked down again at his feet, seemingly unable to meet my gaze.

"He really would do anything, wouldn't he?" I whispered.

"I told you he was going crazy. Literally, Bells."

"I'm surprised you didn't tell on him right away." I smirked. "Get him in trouble." He looked up meeting my grin.

"Thought about it," he tried to grin back, but it appeared somewhat mangled.

I knew what he was offering and as sweet as it was on both of their parts, I still just couldn't do it.

"There isn't much you wouldn't do for me either, is there?" I whispered affectionately feeling slightly guilty. "I don't know why you bother. I don't deserve either of you."

"It makes no difference, though, does it?"

"Not this time," I sighed. "I wish I could explain it to you right so that you would understand. I can't hurt him" – I pointed to my stomach – "any more than I could pick up a gun and shoot you. I love him."

"Why do you always have to love the wrong things, Bella?"

"I don't think I do."

He swallowed, clearing his throat and his voice turned hard like he wanted it. "Trust me." It was then that he started to get to his feet.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm not doing any good here."

I held out my thin hand pleading. "Don't go."

"I don't belong here. I've got to get back."

"Why did you come today?" I asked still reaching limply.

"Just to see if you were really alive. I didn't believe you were sick like Charlie said."

I wasn't sure that I bought that but I didn't reveal anything as I spoke. "Will you come back again? Before…"

"I'm not going to hang around and watch you die, Bella." I flinched at that as his comment stung.

"You're right, you're right." I nodded dropping my hand. "You should go." He headed for the door. "Bye," I

whispered behind him. "Love you, Jake."

"Sure, sure," he mumbled on his way out, slamming the door behind him.

**Hope everyone liked it! Please, review with your thoughts. Q&A:**

**0netflixme0****: ****I like it. Is Jasper and Alice together?**

_Yes, Alice and Jasper are together, but they are not mates and they both know this. Thanks for the review and keep on reading! J _

**This story is a collaboration between Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope you like it!**

**Take a check in with VampSaxAngel's stories!**

**We Will Never Hurt Again (J/B)**

**Till Death by Fire Do Us Part: ^sequel (J/B)**

**Fly or Fall**

**His Chosen**

**Ring of Fire**

**Reborn Through Twilight**

**Winter Month's Secrets**

**Dark Betrayal ^Sequel**

**Devil Summer**

**Devil Rising ^Sequel**

**Seven Minutes**

**I'll Fight For Us**

**Hole in My Heart**

**Feel His Love**

**Ended Torture**

**PM me or review with any questions! ~Much Love**


	4. Needing HimAnd Her?

**Disclaimer-Any and all characters and affiliated mentioned belong to their respective owners. This is a collaboration between VampSaxAngel and XoBellaItaliaoX**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**(Jasper's POV)**

I smiled, looking up from my book as Bella snored softly beside her, her feet resting on my lap as she slept. I snapped the book shut, laying it on the table in front of me. From my movement, Bella shifted, and I froze.

"Jasper..." she whispered.

I continued smiling as her soft voice faded away, but my smile was wiped clean as I remembered Edward's agonizing face. I sighed, looking away from her form. What the hell was I going to do about that? I can't leave Bella, but I can't hurt my brother, and that's what we've all been doing lately. Though, I can't seem to make myself give a damn. I couldn't even figure out what was driving me. I did not understand why we, being me and Bella, had suddenly taken a liking to each other. I shook my head, standing after carefully moving her feet. I walked to the window, looking out to the dense woods. I could see every light, hear every sound, and the moon's fantastic glow was shining brilliantly between the leaves.

I do not know what exactly I was looking for, lost in my own head, but I must have thought I was going to find it out in nature. That was where I spent most of my time. Starting in the wars, and now I lived and breathed for them as a hunter, a predator. For me, most answers did find their way from between that dark bark. I breathed in through my nose, my eyebrows meeting as I turned. I looked over Bella's immaculate face, scrutinizing everything. I traced down her body, taking my time until I reached her very stomach. I stared. And that's all I did. I stared.

My eyes widened, and my lungs deflated, the air dispelling with a sharp whistling sound. I took a step forward, but stopped as my name was called.

"Jasper?"

I turned, my eyes finding Alice's immediately. She looked on, lifting her hand. A decent sized manila was trapped between her freshly manicured fingers. I looked at her knowingly, and she nodded her head. I followed her up to our room and closed the door behind us. We walked to my desk in the corner, and I sat down in the chair, taking the envelope from her, ripped the top open. I twisted it downward, and the papers spilled out onto the hardwood.

"J, you are never late, are you," I murmured.

Alice smirked a moment. "Of course! How else would he treat his best customers?"

I chuckled. "Agreed," Then, I grew somber. "How is the family going to take this?"

Alice sighed, plopping into the chair across the desk. "Honestly, I'm not sure. We haven't decided when or how we're going to show them. Not to mention that I can't see around Bella. We'll just have to wing it, I'm afraid."

I nodded, grasping the pen closest to me. I flipped to the last page and glanced at Alice. "Would you like to sign first, dear?"

She reached forward silently. Her name was soon written across the line in its unique elegant script, mine following.

"Who would have thought," Alice murmured, my eyes rising to her, "Vampires getting divorced, humans pregnant with vampire children, humans and vampires befriending werewolves."

I gave a short laugh. "Things are weird in this family."

She smiled in agreement. "Yes, we are all good with weird."

I shifted in my seat, placing the papers back in the manila. "When should we tell them?" I wondered.

She thought a moment. "I think we should wait just a little longer, if you don't mind. Let things settle in more before anything else drastic occurs."

"I don't mind at all. I agree, actually," I stated.

She smiled. "Great! Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go hunting. I might run into the rest of the family, so don't worry, I will keep my thoughts hidden." She winked and was gone in the next second.

I smirked, standing. I soon found myself back where I was earlier. Her adorable feet in my lap, book in hand. I was lost in the world of the Revolution.

~Instinctual Reactions~

**(Alice's POV)**

I took off into the dense trees, burying myself within the darkness of their shadowing presence covered in the moonlight. I breathed deeply, picking out scents as I sped through the leaves, no sound in my wake, my steps completely silent. I continued, going miles out, leaving the world behind me. I was lost in peace, tranquility. I smiled to myself. I felt completely comfortable.

Smiling widely, I pressed my foot hard against the ground, vaulting up and into the air. I soared, passing my feet from tree to tree, bouncing off their bark. I laughed joyously, throwing my hand and grabbing the branch nearest to me. I swung around the tree, my back hitting the bark. I giggled. I felt so free! I sat a second, taking in deep breaths. Delicious scents soon filled my nose, and my nostrils flared. My smile turned wicked.

I dropped to the forest floor, cracking a small twig. I sprinted forward, running headfirst into a wall of scent. I traced the smell, coming to rest atop a rock that rest over a small drop surrounded by trees. Unless one was looking, it would be completely missed. But to a vampire, it was like an uncovered gold mine just waiting to be explored. I crept up the rock face, crouching low as I looked down on my prey.

A lone deer was resting peacefully, lying in a patch of trampled grass, no doubt having made its own bed. I slid down the side of the rock, dropping to the lower ground. I stared at the animal a moment, watching its ribs rise and fall with every breath. Its heart echoed within my ears. I went forward. The poor thing had no idea what hit it, literally. My teeth struck its neck, breaking the fragile bone in the process. The warm liquid ran down my throat, coating the flames there and numbing them. I closed my eyes to savor the taste. It did not last.

I dropped the freshly dead animal, licking my lips. I drew away, hopping up to higher grounds and walking away. I had rushed out, but now I was biding my time. I looked up, watching the stars twinkle. They like diamonds, gemstones, glorious gems that lined the endless black painting. It was beautiful. I basked in their glow until a new scent hit me, and I froze, turning with a low, barely audible growl rumbling through my chest. My eyes searched the bushes, stopping on two glowing orbs. I stood tall, squaring my shoulders as the dark grey wolf came out from its hiding place. The eyes bore into mine, widening by the second.

My eyebrows pulled together, and I took a step towards the animal, somehow feeling this need to go closer. The glowing eyes flashed to my feet before returning to mine. The wide eyes moved as the animal shook its head, backing away from me with a strange sense of disbelief. The wolf disappeared then, the scent settling around me. It was then I noticed whose scent it was. Leah...

I gasped.

_I was lying on my back, looking up into the blue sky as the sun slowly made its path across the horizon. I breathed in, smiling as the heat brushed over my skin. Only, it wasn't the sun's heat that moved me. I opened my eyes, looking over to meet two magnificent deep blue eyes. I smiled as they brightened under my gaze. I lifted a hand to my waist, twisting my fingers between the ones at my waist. The lips beside me curled in a small smile as the hand pulled me close, my head resting on a soft shoulder._

_I closed my eyes, breathing in the past revolting scent. Now, it was enticing, incredibly seductive. It pulled me in, and I longed to bury myself in it. The arm tightened around me. I brushed my hand over a tiny waist, feeling the skin beneath my fingers jump from the temperature difference. The skin vibrated as the being shivered, delight spreading through my body. I was pulled up, finding myself resting on a deliciously beautiful body. I rested my elbows on either side of an amazing face, twisting strands of hair around my fingers._

_"You're going to kill me, you know that?" the voice stated, sounding like glorious bells._

_I giggled. "I highly doubt that. You have a greater chance of that with me." I winked to add effect._

_A short chuckle. "Maybe so," expression turned serious, "Not that I ever would."_

_My eyes came to life, sparking with fireworks as I stared lovingly into their eyes. "And I would never hurt you," I whispered, leaning down for lips to meet lips._

_Our lips moved together perfectly, molding like puzzle pieces. The lips curled against mine, lifting up into a smile. I mirrored the action. Seconds later, the warm tongue brushed over my lips, begging for entrance. I allowed it, and we battled for dominance. I let them win, not wanting to fight for once. I just wanted to feel. Feel everything. The hand that was brushing down my backside to my thigh, the hand locked on my waist, grasping at the fabric of my shirt as though I was never to be let go. My hand was in their hair, the other resting on the side of their neck._

_We pulled away, kisses trailing down my neck. They leaned up, pushing against me so I sat up, resting on their lap. I bent my head back to give them more access, my eyes falling opened so I could look at the sky as they did their work. One final kiss at the base of my neck, and the lips were gone. A hand landed on my cheek, guiding my face down to theirs. My eyes met blue again, and I felt as though I were drowning in them._

_"I love you." A whisper filled with hidden promises._

_"As I love you," I replied._

I gasped, finding myself back in the present. How-? What the...hell? My chest constricted with my speeding breaths. I can't see werewolves! Isn't that right? Then...why did I see her?

I had seen, kissed, practically felt a werewolf's hand on me, and I liked it. I wanted it again. I looked out into the darkness again but not really seeing. My eyes were incredibly wide.

I had told Leah Clearwater I loved her. And I couldn't find a problem with it.

~Instinctual Reactions~

**(Edward's POV)**

I was sickened. I was absolutely sickened to the core as I watched them; my brother and my wife talking in low whispers. They were conversing over their latest Read of the Week as Bella so aptly titled their weekly rendezvous. Well, that's what it was in my eyes. They were attached, as they had been for weeks, at the hip. Bella was leaning into his chest, resting her head on his shoulder as Jasper began to read the page again. Bella would stop him as she pleased, asking question accordingly. I hated it. All of this pain, this agony, and this is another thing I had to add to my very large silver platter.

Ever since our return, Bella, Rosalie and Jasper have been together nonstop. I can't even get close to my wife because of them. Damn them. Sure, sibling love, that's fine, but acting like my girl is property to them? Hell, no. I always loved Bella's capability to magically fall into the hearts of anyone, but this was ridiculous. Before all of this they did not even care. Well, Jasper did, but nowhere near this much. This was just over the top. And where was Alice in all of this? The back burner. She simply stood back and watched as her husband rushed around caring for Bella. I'll admit, I appreciated it, all of it. Any help from anyone really. Only, I haven't been able to help at all, and that's only one problem.

I have yet to spend a minute of adequate time with her. And I don't know if it's my version of how life is going now or what, but Bella does not seem to care either. I loved her with all my heart, and I could tell her love for me was ever present, but my feelings were not a part of any of this. My opinions, my arguments were invalid in all of their eyes. All but Carlisle's and his were so easily tainted by Esme's. I closed my eyes, shaking my head. One good word on her part, and he would bend to her will. Opening my eyes, I continued to watch Bella. I looked at her beautiful face, and I could not find the anger in me for Carlisle slipping on my part. I would do the same for Bella, and I did happily, many times over, in fact. I loved her that much.

I leaned my back against the wall, curling my thumbs in my pockets as Bella giggled. I listened to the sound, relishing in it like a starving man that just received his first meal in years. As much as I indulged in the sound, I hated it because I had not been the one to cause it.

Where was my involvement? Oh, that's right. It was trapped in the hands of two blondes and an angelic brunette who was suffering for my faults. Maybe...I deserved all of this. I hung my head. Yes, I really did deserve it and a forever of the hurt also.

~Instinctual Reactions~

**(Rosalie's POV)**

A baby. A beautiful child. I smiled as I looked through the mommy catalogs that I picked up. They were full of adorable cribs, clothes, nursery ideas, and paint colors. I could jump for joy, and I'm sure I was affecting Jasper at this moment. I giggled as I came across some wonderful stuffed animals. I got excited when I saw a hand carved, white crib that I adored. I marked it, keeping it in mind for later.

I continued through five more books, passing through a book of baby names. I wonder what Bella will name her child? We hadn't quite discussed the topic, but I'm sure I'll have to help her. She'll have to pick something befitting a Cullen. I smiled, drowning in my thoughts. She would have the most spoiled baby in history. I just prayed I had forever to show the little darling my love. I fell back on the bed, reveling in the glorious sight.

Our mansion. Snowy nights with the approaching winter and a beautiful child running around with bare feet, playing in the fresh white blanket. It would be amazing!

~Instinctual Reactions~

**(Jasper's POV)**

"Have you ever been scared, Jasper?" Bella asked me quietly.

I looked down at her to see her staring out the window. I tightened my arm around her shoulders for a moment, squeezing her to me. "Yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "I was just wondering."

My face twisted, and I leaned forward so I was looking enter her eyes. My eyes tightened, scrutinizing her closely. "What's the real reason?"

She sighed, grasping my shirt in her fist at my waist. "I'm a little scared, that's all."

I brushed my fingers through her hair, pushing it behind her ear. "Are you afraid that you won't make it, Bella?" I asked, serious.

Her eyes met mine, and I could see the answer in them. The tears shining in them were even more of a confirmation. I traced a single finger across her cheek, catching the one droplet that managed to escape between her fluttering lashes.

She sniffed, nodding slightly. "A little. I mean, I know Edward will save me, but I sometimes wonder if it will still be too late." She looked down, smoothing her hand over her burgeoning stomach. "I can't let my baby grow up without his or her mother. I mean, look at me Jasper. I've seen the changes in my reflection."

She stared at me, and I traced my eyes over her features. She was still beautiful, but so much worse than she was. Her eyes were sunken in, the cheeks melted into the hollows, practically black circles under her eyes. The most noticeable difference was her eyes. They were no longer a caramel color but almost black, the pupils melding into the color of the iris. It was astonishing. She was being eaten alive, but she was enduring it for her own sake, no one else's. And somewhere along the lines, I thing she realized the effects, truly realized them. But the effects meant nothing. They were nothing. She would live. I'll be damned if she doesn't, even more so.

I leaned in, pressing my lips to her damp cheek. I held them on her soft skin for a few seconds before I lifted them, turning my face so our foreheads touched. Her eyes met mine, and I could see strength burning within them that I had not seen in a while.

"I'm fading away." She sniffled, her eyes growing hard. "But I'm gonna make it. You watch me..." Her voice faded as reality set in. Her hands found mine, and she seemed to grip with all the frail strength she had left in her disappearing body.

"Oh, I'm gonna watch you, Darlin'. I'm gonna watch you blossom and survive," I stated. "And you will be absolutely magnificent."

She smiled, leaning closer so her nose brushed against mine, her lips practically meeting mine. I breathed in her changing scent, being drawn into the added ingredient, and I knew that that what was pulling me in.

"Bella," I whispered.

Her eyes met mine, understanding shining in their depths. "I know, Jasper, but we can't. I need you, but we are stronger than this."

I nodded against her, catching my movements and forcing myself to come no closer. She waited a moment before shaking her head against mine.

"No, my baby needs you, Jasper," she whispered.

She took my hand and rested it on her skin, letting me feel the gentle kick. I closed my eyes, leaning down so my ear was on her stomach, listening and feeling the kicking and heartbeat. "I'll always be here, Bella."

I knew she was smiling as she threaded her fingers in my golden locks. Her lips pressed softly against my hair when she leaned forward. We curled together like this, listening to the sound of our breathing. And that's where we stayed, even as the sun peaked its way over the mountains. We were frozen like statues, a work of art depicting love, acceptance, fear, life, and death. We were the cycle of life in our own twisted way.

Bella was strength, I was the grip. Bella was life, I was death. Bella was beauty, I was the beast. Bella was her, I was me.

We were yesterday. We are tomorrow. We are right now. We were past. We are present. We will be the future.

We were us.

Love drove us, but it was something else that forced us to never stop. For her it was protection.

For me? Well, I was still figuring that out myself.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you think? We just thought that we would give you a look into the minds of some of the other Cullen's. What are your thoughts?! Review!**

**Please review, favorite, and set alerts. Questions? PM or review, and I will get back to you soon. **

**~Much Love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX**


	5. No More Strings, No Ties

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N:**** This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews.**

**Chapter 5  
****(Jake's POV)  
****_(SAM'S ALPHA VOICE)__ (The wolves thoughts) (Jake's thoughts) __(Sam's thoughts)__  
__(Seth's thoughts) __(JAKE'S ALPHA VOICE)_**

**They were waiting. Of course they were.**

'_**Jake!'**_

'_**Jacob!' **_** Eight voices coursed in relief.**

'_**Come home, now!'**_** The Alpha voice ordered as I sprinted home. Sam was furious after reading in my head everything that had happened earlier at the Cullen's regarding Bella. I didn't have to tell them that I was half-past crazy either. The sickness in my head was obvious. **

**They saw all the horror – Bella's mottled stomach; her raspy voice: _'He's strong, that's all'._ The burning man in Edward's face: _'Watching her sicken and waste away… see it hurting her'. _Rosalie crouched over Bella's limp body: _'Bella's life means nothing to her'. _The way that Jasper and Bella seemed to cling to each other like they were each other's life lines: _'Jasper is untouchable… he has his reputation for a reason' – _and for once, no one had anything to say. Their shock was just a silent shout in my head; Wordless. **

_**._.-:'~ Instinctual Reactions '~:-._.**_

**I was half way home before anyone recovered. Then they all started running to meet me. **

**It was almost dark – the clouds covered the sunset completely. I risked darting across the freeway and made it without being seen. **

**We met up about ten miles out of La Push, in a clearing left by the loggers. It was out of the way, wedged between two spurs of the mountain, where no one would see us. **

**The babble in my head was total chaos. Everyone was shouting at once.**

**Sam's hackles were sticking straight up and he was growling in an unbroken stream as he paced back and forth around the top of the ring. Paul and Jared moved like shadows behind him, their ears flat against the sides of their head. The whole circle was agitated, on their feet and snarling in low bursts.**

**At first their anger was undefined and I thought I was in for it. I was too messed up to care about that. They could do whatever they wanted to me for circumventing orders. And then the unfocused confusion of thoughts began to move together. **

'_**How can this be?'**_

'_**What does it mean?'**_

'_**What will it be?'**_

'_**Not safe!'**_

'_**Dangerous!'**_

'_**It's unnatural!'**_

'_**Monstrous!'**_

'_**An abomination!'**_

'_**We can't allow it to be born!'**_

**The pack was pacing in synchronization, thinking in synchronization, all but myself and one other. I **

**sat beside whichever brother it was, too dazed to look over with either my eyes or my mind and see who was next to me, while the pack circled around us. **

'_**The treaty does not cover this.'**_

'_**This puts everyone in danger!'**_

**I tried to understand the spiraling voices, tried to follow the circling pathway the thoughts made to see where they were leading, but it wasn't making any sense. The pictures in the center of their thoughts were my pictures – the very worst of them. Bella's bruises, Edward's face as he burned.**

'_**They fear it, too.'**_

'_**But they won't do anything about it!'**_

'_**They're protecting Bella Swan.'**_

'_**We can't let that influence us!'**_

'_**The safety of our families, of everyone here, is more important than one human!'**_

'_**If they won't kill it, we have to.'**_

'_**Protect the tribe.'**_

'_**Protect our families.'**_

'_**We have to kill it before it's too late!'**_

**Another of my memories, Edward's words this time: _'The thing is growing. Swiftly.'_**

**I struggled to focus, to pick out individual voices.**

'_**No time to waste,' **_**Jared thought.**

'_**It will mean a fight,'**_** Embry cautioned. **

'_**A bad one. We're ready,' **_**Paul insisted. **

'_**We'll need surprise on our side,'**_** Sam thought. **

'_**If we catch them divided, we can take them down separately. It will increase our chances of victory.'**_** Jared thought, starting to strategize now.**

**I shook my head, rising slowly to my feet. I felt unsteady there – like the circling wolves were making me dizzy. The wolf beside me got up too. He shoulder pushed against mine, propping me up.**

'_**Wait,'**_** I thought.**

**The circling paused for one beat and then they were pacing again. **

'_**There's little time,'**_** Sam said.**

'_**But – what are you thinking? You wouldn't attack them for breaking the treaty this afternoon. Now you're planning an ambush when the treaty is still intact?'**_

'_**This is not something our treaty anticipated,'**_** Sam said. ****_'This is a danger to every human in the area. We don't know what kind of creature the Cullen's have bred, but we do know that it is strong and fast-growing. And it will be too young to follow any treaty. Remember the newborn vampires we fought? Wild, violent, beyond the reach of reason or restraint. Imagine one like that, but protected by the Cullen's.' _**

'_**We don't know -'**_** I tried to interrupt.**

'_**We don't know,'**_** he agreed. ****_'And we can't take chances with the unknown in this case. We can only allow the Cullen's to exist while we're absolutely sure that they can be trusted not to cause harm. This…thing cannot be trusted.'_**

'_**They don't like it any more than we do.'**_

**Sam pulled Rosalie's face, her protective crouch from my mind and put it on display for everyone. **

'**_Some are ready to fight for it, no matter what it is.'_**

'_**It's just a baby, for crying out loud!'**_

'_**Not for long,'**_** Lean whispered.**

'_**Jake, buddy, this is a big problem,'**_** Quil said. ****_'We can't just ignore it.'_**

'_**You're making it into something bigger than it is!'**_** I argued. ****_'The only one who's in danger here is _**

_**Bella.'**_

'_**Again, by her own choice,'**_** Sam said. ****_'But this time her choice affects us all.'_**

'_**I don't think so!'**_

'_**We can't take that chance!'**_

'_**We won't allow a blood drinker to hunt on our lands.'**_

'_**Then tell them to leave,'**_** The wolf who was still supporting me said. It was Seth. Of course. **

'_**And inflict the menace on others?'**_

'_**When blood drinkers cross our land, we destroy them, no matter where they plan to hunt. We protect everyone we can.'**_

'_**This is crazy!'**_** I said. ****_'This afternoon you were afraid to put the pack in danger.' _**

'_**This afternoon I didn't know our families were at risk!'**_

'_**I can't believe this! How're you going to kill this creature without killing Bella?'**_

**There were no words, but the silence was full of meaning. **

**I howled. _'She's human, too! Doesn't our protection apply to her?'_**

'_**She's dying anyway,'**_** Lean thought. ****_'We'll just shorten the process.'_**

**That did it. I leaped away from Seth, toward his sister, with my teeth bared. I was about to catch her hind leg when I felt Sam's teeth cut into my flank, dragging me back. **

**I howled in pain and fury and turned on him. **

'_**STOP!'**_** he ordered in the double timbre of the Alpha.**

**My legs seemed to buckle under me. I jerked to a half, only managing to keep on my feet by sheer will power. **

**He turned his gaze away from me. _'You will not be cruel to him, Leah,'_ he commanded her. _'Bella's sacrifice is a heavy price and we will all recognize that. It is against everything we stand for to take a human life. Making an exception to that code is a bleak thing. We will all mourn for what we do tonight.'_**

'_**Tonight?'**_** Seth repeated shocked. ****_'Sam – I think we should talk about this some more. Consult with the Elders, at least. You can't seriously mean for us to-'_**

'_**We can't afford your tolerance for the Cullen's now. There is no time for debate. YOU WILL DO AS YOU ARE TOLD, SETH.'**_

**Seth's front knees folded and his head fell forward under the weight of the Alpha's command. **

**Sam paced in a tight circle around the two of us. _'We need the whole pack for this. Jacob, you are our strongest fighter. YOU WILL FIGHT WITH US TONIGHT. I understand that this is hard for you, so you will concentrate on their fighters – Emmett and Jasper Cullen. You don't have to be involved with the…other part. Quil and Embry will fight with you.'_**

**My knees trembled; I struggled to hold myself upright while the voice of the Alpha lashed at my will. **

'_**Paul, Jared and I will take on Edward and Rosalie. I think from the information Jacob has brought us, they will be the ones – aside from Jasper who will most likely be the toughest to get past – that will be guarding Bella, but since Jasper is their best fighter and a strong warrior, I have assigned him to Jacob. CARLISLE AND ALICE WILL ALSO BE CLOSE, POSSIBLY ESME. BRADY, COLLIN, SETH AND LEAH WILL CONCENTRATE ON THEM. Whoever has a clear line on -'**_** we all heard him mentally stutter over Bella's name '****_– the creature will take it. Destroying the creature is our first priority,'_**

**The pack rumbled in nervous agreement. The tension had everyone's fur standing on end. The pacing was quicker, and the sound of the paws against the brackish floor was sharper, toenails tearing into the soil. Only Seth and I were still, the eye in the center of a storm of bared teeth and flattened ears. Seth's nose was almost touching the ground, bowed under Sam's commands. I felt his pain at the coming disloyalty. For him this was a betrayal – during that one day of alliance, fighting beside Edward Cullen, Seth had truly become the vampire's friend. **

**There was no resistance in him, however. He would obey no matter how much it hurt him. He had no other choice.**

**And what choice did I have? When the Alpha spoke, the pack followed. **

**Sam had never pushed his authority this far before; I knew he honestly hated to see Seth kneeling before him like a slave at the foot of his master. He wouldn't force this if he didn't believe that he had no other choice. He couldn't lie to us when we were linked mind to mind like this. He really believed it was our duty to destroy Bella and the monster she carried. He really believe we had no time to waste. **

**He believed it enough to die for it. **

**I saw that he would face Edward himself; Edward's ability to read our thoughts made him a great threat in Sam's mind, though not as big of a threat as Jasper. Since I was the best fighter of the pack, he had chosen him for me since I would have the best chance out of all of us in defeating him. Though, if I were being honest with myself… I highly doubted that I would come out on top regarding him. He'd leave the easiest targets for the younger wolves and Leah. Little Alice was no danger without her future vision to guide her and we knew from our time of alliance that Esme was not a fighter. Carlisle would be more or a challenge, but his hatred of violence would hinder him. **

**I felt sicker than Seth as I watched Sam plan it out, trying to work the angles to give each member of the pack the best chance of survival.**

**Everything was inside out. This afternoon, I'd been chomping at the bit to attack them. But Seth had been right – it wasn't a fight I'd been ready for. I'd blinded myself with that hate. I Hadn't let myself look at it carefully, because I must have known what I would see if I did. **

**Carlisle Cullen. Looking at him without that hate clouding my eyes, I couldn't deny that killing him was murder. He was good. Good as any human that we protected. Maybe better. The others, too, I supposed, but I didn't feel as strongly about them. I didn't know them as well. It was Carlisle who would hate fighting back, even to save his own life. That's why we would be able to kill him – because he wouldn't want us, his enemies, to die. **

**This was wrong. And it wasn't just because killing Bella felt like killing me, like suicide. **

'_**Pull it together, Jacob!'**_** Sam ordered. ****_'The tribe comes first.'_**

'_**I was wrong today, Sam.'**_

'_**Your reasons were wrong then. But now we have a duty to fulfill.'**_

**I braced myself. _'No.'_**

**Sam snarled and stopped pacing in front of me. He stared into my eyes and a deep growl slid between his teeth. **

**Yes, the Alpha decreed, his double voice blistering with the heat of his authority. _'THERE ARE NO LOOPHOLES TONIGHT. YOU, JACOB, ARE GOING TO FIGHT THE CULLENS WITH US. YOU, WITH QUIL AND EMBRY, WILL TAKE CARE OF JASPER AND EMMETT. YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO PROTECT THE TRIBE. THAT IS WHY YOU EXIST. YOU WILL PERFORM THIS OBLIGATION!'_**

**My shoulders hunched as the edict crushed me. My legs collapsed and I was on my belly under him. **

**No member of the pack could refuse the Alpha.**

_**._.-:'~ Instinctual Reactions ~':-._.**_

**Sam stared moving the others into formation while I was still on the ground. Embry and Quil were at my sides, waiting for me to recover and take the point.**

**I could feel the drive, the need, to get on my feet and lead them. The compulsion grew and I fought it uselessly, cringing on the ground where I was.**

**Embry whined quietly in my ear. He didn't want to think the words, afraid that he would bring me to Sam's attention again. I felt his wordless plea for me to get up, for me to get this over with and be done with it.**

**There was fear in the pack, not so much for self but for the whole. We couldn't imagine that we would all make it out alive tonight. Which brothers would we lose? Which minds would leave us forever? **

**Which grieving families would we be consoling in the morning?**

**My mind began to work with theirs, to think in unison, as we dealt with these fears. Automatically, I pushed up from the ground and shook my coat.**

**Embry and Quil huffed in relief. Quil touched his nose to my side once. **

**Their minds were filled with our challenge, our assignment. We remembered together the nights we'd watched the Cullen's practicing for the fight with the newborns. Emmett Cullen was the strongest, but Jasper would be the biggest problem. He moved like a lightning strike – power and speed and death rolled into one, and add his gift to that and you have a dangerous combination. How many centuries' experience did he have? Enough that all the other Cullen's looked to him for guidance. **

'_**I'll take point, if you want flank,'**_** Quil offered. There was more excitement in his mind than most of the others. When Quil had watched Jasper's instruction those nights, he'd been dying to test his skill against the vampire's. For him, this would be a contest. **

**Even knowing it was his life on the line, he saw it that way. Paul was like that too and the kids who had never been in battle, Collin and Brady. Seth probably would've been the same – if the opponents were not his friends. **

'_**Jake?'**_** Quil nudged me. ****_'How do you want to roll?'_**

**I just shook my head. I couldn't concentrate – the compulsion to follow orders felt like puppet strings hooked into all of my muscles. One foot forward, now another. **

**Seth was dragging me behind Collin and Brady – Leah had assumed point there. She ignored Seth while planning with the others and I could see that she'd rather leave him out of the fight. There was a maternal edge to her feelings for her younger brother. She wished Sam would send him home. Seth didn't register Leah's doubts. He was adjusting to the puppet strings, too. **

'_**Maybe if you stopped resisting…'**_** Embry whispered.**

'_**Just focus on our part, the big ones. We can take them down. We own them!' **_**Quil was working himself up – like a pep talk before a big game. **

**I could see how easy it would be – to think about nothing more than my part. It wasn't too hard to imagine attacking Jasper and Emmett. We'd been close to that before. I'd thought of them as enemies for a very long time. I could do that now again. **

**I just had to forget that they were protecting the same thing that I would protect. I had to forget the reason why I might want them to win…**

'_**Jake,'**_** Embry warned. ****_'Keep your head in the game.'_**

**My feet moved sluggishly, pulling against the drag of the strings.**

'_**There's no point in fighting it,'**_** Embry whispered again.**

**He was right. I would end up doing what Sam wanted, if he was willing to push it. And he was. Obviously.**

**There was a good reason for the Alpha's authority. Even a pack as strong as ours wasn't much of a force without a leader. We had to move together, to think together, in order to be effective. And that required the body to have a head. **

**So what if Sam was wrong now? There was nothing anyone could do. No one could dispute his decision. **

**Except…**

**And there it was – a thought I'd never, never wanted to have. But now, with my legs all tied up in strings, I recognized the exception with relief – more than relief, with a fierce joy. **

**No one could dispute the Alpha's decision – except for me. **

**I hadn't earned anything. But there were things that had been born in me, things that I'd left unclaimed. **

**I'd never wanted to lead the pack. I didn't want to do it now. I didn't want the responsibility for all our fates resting on my shoulders. Sam was better at that than I would ever be. **

**But he was wrong tonight. **

**And I had not been born to kneel to him. **

**The bonds fell off of my body the second that I embraced my birthright. **

**I could feel it gathering in me, both a freedom and also a strange, hollow power. Hollow because an Alpha's power came from his pack and I had no pack. For a second, loneliness overwhelmed me. **

**I had no pack now.**

**But I was straight and strong as I walked to where Sam stood, planning with Paul and Jared. He turned at the sound of my advance and his black eyes narrowed. **

'_**NO,'**_** I told him again. **

**He heard it right away, heard the choice that I'd made in the sound of the Alpha voice in my thoughts. **

**He jumped back with a half step with a shocked yelp. _'Jacob? What have you done?'_**

'_**I won't follow you, Sam. Not for something so wrong.'**_

**He stared at me, stunned. _'You would… you would choose your enemies over your family?'_**

'_**They aren't'**_** – I shook my head, clearing it – ****_'they aren't our enemies. They never have been. Until I really thought about destroying them, thought it through, I didn't see that.'_**

'_**This isn't about them!'**_** He snarled at me. ****_'This is about Bella! She has never been the one for you, she has never chosen you, but you continue to destroy your life for her!'_**

**They were hard words, but true words. I sucked in a big gulp of air, breathing them in.**

'_**Maybe you're right. But you're going to destroy the pack over her, Sam. No matter how many of them survive tonight, they will always have murder on their hands.'**_

'_**We have to protect our families!'**_

'_**I know what you've decided, Sam. But you don't decide for me, not anymore.'**_

'_**JACOB – YOU CAN'T TURN YOUR BACK ON THE TRIBE!'**_

**I heard the double echo of his Alpha command, but it was weightless this time. It no longer applied to me. **

**He clenched his jaw, trying to force me to respond to his words. I stared into his furious eyes. **

'**_Ephraim Black's son was nor born to follow Levi Uley's.'_**

'_**Is this it then, Jacob Black?'**_** His hackles rose and his muzzle pulled back from his teeth. Paul and Jared snarled and bristled at his sides. ****_'Even if you can defeat me, the pack will never follow you!'_**

**Now I jerked back, a surprise whine escaping my throat. _'Defeat you? I'm not going to fight you, Sam.'_**

'_**Then what's your plan? I'm not stepping aside so that you can protect the vampire spawn at the tribe's expense.'**_

'_**I'm not telling you to step aside.'**_

'_**If you order them to follow you -'**_

'_**I'll never take anyone's will away from him.'**_

**His tail whipped back and forth as he recoiled from the judgment in my words. Then, he took a step forward so that we were toe to toe, his exposed teeth inches from mine. I hadn't noticed till this moment that I'd grown taller than him.**

'_**THERE CANNOT BE MORE THAN ONE ALPHA. THE PACK HAS CHOSEN ME. WILL YOU RIP US APART TONIGHT? WILL YOUR TURN ON YOUR BROTHERS? OR WILL YOU END THIS INSANITY AND JOIN US AGAIN?' **_** Every word was layered with command, but it couldn't touch me. Alpha blood ran undiluted in my veins.**

**I could see why there was never more than one Alpha male in a pack. My body was responding to the challenge. I could feel the instinct to defend my claim rising in me. The primitive core of my wolf-self tensed for the battle of supremacy. **

**I focused all my energy to control that reaction. I would not fall into a pointless, destructive fight with Sam. He was my brother still, even though I was rejecting him. **

'_**There is only one Alpha for this pack. I'm not contesting that. I'm just choosing to go my own way.'**_

'_**Do you belong to a coven now, Jacob?'**_

**I flinched. _'I don't know, Sam. But I do know this -'_**

**He shrunk back as he felt the weight of the Alpha in my tone. It affected him more than his touched me, because I had been born to lead him. **

'_**I will stand between you and the Cullen's. I won't just watch while the pack kills innocent' **_**– it was hard to apply that word to vampires, but it was true – ****_'people. The pack is better than that. Lead them in the right direction, Sam.' _**

**I turned my back on him and a chorus of howls tore into the air around me. Digging my nails into the earth, I raced away from the uproar I'd caused. I didn't have much time. At least Leah was the only one with a prayer of outrunning me, and I had a head start. **

**The howling faded with the distance, and I took comfort as the sound continued to rip apart the quiet night. They weren't after me yet. I had to warn the Cullen's before the pack could get it together and stop me. If the Cullen's were prepared, it might give Sam a reason to rethink this before it was too late. **

**(Jasper's POV)**

**Bella was curled up awkwardly on a narrow hospital bed in the center of the living room. She had gotten so much worse in the last few hours that Carlisle had to order equipment from the hospital in order to set up a make-shift hospital throughout several rooms of our house. We had moved most of the furniture into the garage or the basement in order to fit the hospital bed and all of the monitors in the living room. The x-ray among other things were all upstairs in Carlisle's office.**

**I sat in a chair next to the hospital beg, holding Bella's hand in mine as the monitors were strapped to her body, the tubes stuck into her skin. The lights on the monitors flashed, but there was no sound except for the dripping noise from the IV that was plugged into her arm pumping a thick and white substance that had the nutrients that her body seemed to be rejecting. Her breathing had turned harsher, labored. It would hitch and break in strange rhythms. Her heart also seemed to be beating too fast, though I had nothing to compare it to at the moment, I knew it wasn't normal. **

"**Don't touch her! You'll wake her up!" Rosalie whispered harshly toward Alice, who sighed in response.**

"**Rosalie," Carlisle murmured as he and Esme grabbed their coats and keys to get ready to run to the store to try to get something for Bella to try to eat since she can't seem to hold anything down around here. **

"**Don't start with me, Carlisle. We let you have your way earlier, but that's all we're allowing." She snapped. Carlisle sighed as Esme gave us all a sympathetic look before following Carlisle out the door and closing it gently behind her.**

**Bella choked a little in her uneasy sleep and both Edward and Rosalie moved in to hover over her causing an instinctual growl to rumble in my chest as I smoothed my hand across Bella's forehead. **

**That was another thing that had changed along with her condition. My protective instincts have been going crazy and I have been getting into fights with the entire family left and right no matter who it was. **

**Edward was about to snarl in return, but stopped and stiffened, turning his head toward the glass wall that showed through to the outside. He then immediately began to walk toward the sliding door at the back, but paused and called to Emmett and I over his shoulder. **

"**Something is happening; Jacob and Seth are on their way here."**

**I looked between him and Bella, I couldn't bear to leave her side, but I knew that I had to in case I was needed. I leaned over the handle bars and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before quietly flitting out the door after Emmett and Edward. **

_**._.-:'~ Instinctual Reactions ~':-._.**_

**The house was dark as Edward stood between Emmett and I on the back porch when the two horse-sized wolves broke through the trees onto the big lawn. **

"**Jacob? Seth? What's going on?" Edward asked them. **

**The russet-colored wolf, who I knew was Jacob, slowed and then paced back a few steps. I could feel the discomfort in their emotions from our scent as the Seth wolf whined quietly, hesitating, and then fell back behind Jacob.**

**After several seconds, Edward suddenly hissed furiously and leaped off the porch. **

"**They want to kill Bella?" he snarled flatly. **

**Emmett and I, not having heard the first part of the conversation, took his inflectionless question for a statement and we were right next to Edward in a flash, teeth exposed as we moved on the two wolves. I would not let anyone hurt Bella and I would be a pile of ashes before they harmed a single hair on their head. **

**Jacob stayed in place as the Seth wolf began to back away. "Em, Jazz – not them! The others! The pack is coming." Edward cleared things up, though I wasn't calming down any since there was still a threat to Bella and my family. **

**Emmett and I rocked back on our heels as Emmett turned to Edward while I kept my eyes locked on the two wolves. I still wasn't sure I could trust them, they were after all a part of the pack that was on their way to destroy Bella and her child. I simply would not allow it and the God of War would be out before they could get within miles of the house. **

"**What's their problem?" Emmett demanded gesturing to the two wolves. **

"**The same one as mine," Edward hissed. "But they have their own plan to handle it. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He and Esme have to get back here now."**

**Jacob whined uneasily.**

"**They aren't far," Edward said in a lifeless voice that he seemed to be using a lot as of late. He listened to something in the wolves' thoughts before he spoke again. "Will you be in danger, Seth?" I guess he must have responded, because he suddenly wheeled and dated into the darkness. **

**I continued to watch the place where Seth had vanished, keeping my senses pealed as Emmett muttered into his phone and Edward and Jacob stood facing each other in the dark meadow of our yard. Alice appeared on the porch and then, after staring at Jacob with anxious eyes for a long moment, she flitted to my side. I was a little anxious about the fact that everyone seemed to be drifting outside, leaving Bella alone in the house with only Rosalie as a guard, but I knew that as long as I had my gift pushed out as far as I did, I would feel them before they could manage to find a way to sneak up on me. **

"**This isn't the first time I've owed you my gratitude, Jacob," Edward whispered to him. "I would never have asked for this from you." He was silent as Jacob replied before he spoke again. "I suppose you're right about that." **

**The large russet wolf sighed heavily and again, Edward responded. "Right," he murmured and paused again. "I know. I never really believed she would. But…" **

**I knew at this point that Jacob must have asked about Bella, because Edward's voiced and eyes immediately went hollow. **

"**Worse," he breathed. **

**He didn't have much time to let that sink in before Alice spoke. "Jacob, would you mind switching forms?" She asked. "I want to know what's going on."**

**The large wolf shook his enormous head at the same time Edward answered. "He needs to stay linked to Seth."**

"**Well, then would you be so kind as to tell me what's happening?"**

**He explained in clipped, passionless sentences that completely trampled over his emotions. "The pack thinks Bella's become a problem. They foresee potential danger from the… from what she's carrying." **

_**Well…that's certainly a step up from 'it' or the 'thing'. **_

"**They feel it's their duty to remove that danger. Jacob and Seth disbanded from the pack to warn us. The rest are planning to attack tonight."**

**Hurt and panic crossed Alice's features before she hissed, leaning away from Edward. I briefly wondered what that was about and exchanged a glance with Emmett before our eyes ranged across the trees. **

"**Carlisle and Esme are on their way," Emmett said. "Twenty minutes, tops." **

"**We should take a defensive position." I said getting into my military mode, though I could feel the Major rattling the bars of his cage, begging and threatening me to come out. **

**Edward nodded agreeing with my assessment. "Let's get inside."**

**Jacob must have been speaking, because Edward said, "I will." He nodded before turning his attention towards us. "He said to listen for his howl, that's the signal." **

**We nodded and backed into the house, our eyes flickering everywhere as we looked for the potential danger that was threating someone that I was growing to need more and more every day.**

**A/N:**** So, conflict! Yeah, things are heating up! And what's going to happen now that Jake won't be the one to imprint on Renesmee? You'll just have to wait and see! **

**Please, review, favorite, and set alerts J I would love to hear what everyone has to say.**

**~Much love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX**


	6. Simple Has Never Been More Complicated

**Disclaimer. ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N:**** This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. Don't forget that nominations are going up for various awards!**

**Chapter 6**

**(Jasper's POV)**

I could not, for one second, take my eyes off of her. Bella was resting silently as she had been, the machine she was hooked to beeping feebly. Her heart beat was growing sharper by the minute, each beat a distinct sound that floated its way through the ever silent house.

The others were scatter about, minding their own business and forming silent conversations amongst one another. The only two that were forming reactions were Edward and Rosalie. God only knew what they were conversing about. They were inches apart, their faces changing from semi-dramatic glares to harsh snarls. I was not at all surprised by this, given the circumstances. Likewise, I was surprised it had taken this long. With Rosalie's ever protective nature on full alert and my constant presence, it was of no new element that Edward's fuse had finally sparked.

He was also breaking down under Bella's influence in the last 24 hours, though it might be because his focus was on keeping an eye out for the dogs and their impending attack. Her love for their child had all but forced him to reconcile himself with the idea that he would soon be a father. His natural grimace whenever the topic was brought up had faded to being practically nonexistent. The natural _it_ reaction had changed to _thing_. I didn't have the heart to tell her that his emotions hadn't shifted at all despite his outward appearance. I was just glad that he wasn't stressing her out as much anymore. In Rosalie's eyes, that was no improvement at all, but Bella was very obviously relaxed by the improvement. This had iced Rosalie's burns but just barely. Rosalie was never going to indulge the ability to change. Her ego drove her to proportions that one should not even reach.

Like... right... now...

She and Edward stood hating on each other once again, their voices rising more, but still indiscernible. I looked back down at Bella, tracing her sunken features. I trailed a single finger gently across her cheek. I was happy she was getting what she wanted, but I honestly could not wait for her to be changed, to be back to normal. Her color had faded and her heartbeat was dangerously low. I yearned for the time that she could be her full self again. She was exquisite no matter what, but the sooner she sees her child's face, the better.

Just then, everything grew quiet, deadly almost. I turned my attention to Carlisle, and his eyes burned into mine. We were on the same exact page. This was the calm before the storm.

**(Edward's POV)**

"We can't keep treating her this way. She needs help!" I growled at Rosalie menacingly, my voice extremely low.

"She wants the child," she snarled in return. "Don't you want to make her happy?"

My lips curled, my teeth polished white as I pushed my face even closer to hers. "Yes, but not dead."

Rosalie tilted her head back to glare at me. "She's not going to die if you are willing to save her. You've done it before, reverse that," she stated, referring to the incident in the ballet studio long ago.

I winced at the image that brought me. Bella's bloody body, twisted and mangled on the dance floor. The extreme opposite of the vision I wanted. I blinked hard, shaking my head to rid myself of the image. As soon as it faded, however, other horrifying pictures filled my head.

Rosalie smirked. "You can't even get a _good_ picture of her," she mocked.

I lifted a hand, snarling. I don't what I intended to do with it. Slap her, choke her. Honestly, I could not decide. "Our wedding day," I replied.

Her lips rose up in a sarcastic curve. "Is that all?"

"Prom."

She rolled her eyes. "You're gonna have to do better than that. So, give it to her**, **to both of you. All you have to do is save her again, just like you always do," she stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I gazed at her incredulously. "It's not that simple, Rosalie."

She huffed. "Oh, yes, it is, actually."

"No, it's not!" I remarked. "I have to save my wife and keep that thing alive, Rosalie. It's not that simple. One wrong move, and they're both gone, though Bella will have a much harder time staying alive. My world is balanced on the end of a sharp knife, and you think it's simple?" I questioned rhetorically. "The reason for your existence is sitting over there," I pointed to Emmett who was sitting silently and thinking, "and he is perfectly safe. Bella's not."

Rosalie stared at me, her eyes hard. "She is safe. We're all here. She's gonna make it, Edward, no matter what."

I looked away, tracing the darkening forests outside the big window there. I could not deny the fact that Bella would be perfectly fine. She would have to be. My feelings of hatred for our child were waning, but if Bella were to disappear in death, then nothing would stop me from taking drastic measures. I could name plenty of attributes to my imminent death. Some were coming later in the blistering cold tonight. Need I say more? Likewise, Rosalie's point was mute in consequence to my affairs in all of this. She and Jasper were guarding my wife like I did not even exist. Where was my power in all of this? I could catch Rosalie's thoughts all of the time, but where the hell did Jasper's conscience go many a time? It had to do with Bella, and both of their presences had rubbed me wrong since the beginning of all of this. Rosalie especially, but I must digress. Jasper is one whom I would not want a quarrel with. Not only that, but with his extra background, he probably is better at protecting Bella in this state.

Unfortunately, though, it did not mend my charred feelings for any of this. Rosalie continued to stare at me. I glanced at her before a barrier around my mind shivered. I tensed, gazing out into the darkness, my eyes hard. I knew what was coming.

A loud howl broke the deadly silence.

**(Sam's POV)  
_(Sam's Alpha Command)_**

_It's time, _I said, the pack closing their circle around me instantly.

_Awesome! Let's do this! _Paul yelled excitedly, echoes of the statements following soon after.

I sniffed, nodding in his direction as one single conscience presence vibrating uncomfortably. I looked towards the silent wolf, taking in her shimmery gray fur. My eyes tightened, and I commanded the others to take off, going to the edge of the treaty line. She made to follow, but I stopped her.

_Wait, _I commanded, and she stopped instantly. She bowed slightly, falling back onto her haunches.

_Yes? _Leah asked.

_What's wrong with you? _I asked in return. _You've been acting weird since your last patrol. _A rumble made its way through her chest as she swayed uncomfortably.

_There's nothing wrong, _she replied. _I'm fine._

I lifted a wolfish brow, looking on incredulously. _Lying to my face will get you nowhere. _

She lifted her head, growling. _It's none of your business, anyway. I don't owe you _**anything**_, Sam._

I took a step towards her, growling quietly in my chest. She stared, eyes hard, but I could see she was debating all of this. _But you owe it to the pack to screw your head on straight. You were just as excited as them about all of this before. What changed it?_

She shook her head, blowing her breath out of her nose. _It's none of your business. Now, let's go. _She starting walking to meet the rest of them, but I stood in her way. She snapped at me, and I rose high, lifting my head.

_**Stand down!** _I commanded.

Her eyes widened, and I was shocked to see her body resisting my words. I moved forward, rising above her even more as her body trembled from the effort. I growled, placing my face inches from hers. She winced as her body began to lose the battle beneath my commanding words. She struggled even more. My eyes widened as she rose to me, her eyes glistening with pain filled tears as her body began to break from my hold. I growled again, even louder this time.

_**STAND DOWN!**_

_NEVER!_ She screamed, and I fell back, planting on my haunches as she rose, looking down on me as her chest constricted with every harsh breath. _I will never be a plaything to you again. _She snarled. Her nose tapped against mine roughly. _I will stand with them. Be prepared to feel my eternal wrath for all you have done, _Alpha_. _

She took off, her footfalls disappearing into the darkness. I snarled, rising to my feet. I sped through the trees, not even hesitating at the treaty line. God help them, and damn them all.

**(Jacob's POV)**

Left...

Right...

Left...

Right...

_You're going to wear a ditch in the ground. _Seth muttered, switching his gaze from me to the forest and back again.

I growled at him lowly as I slowed my pacing. I stood still, watching the trees sway as the gentle breeze rushes through. I freeze and Seth leaps to his feet, moving to stand beside me as my howl fills the air that has been covered with the smell. The scent is familiar.

_Leah, _Seth whispers. _She's alone. _

I nod carefully, keeping my movements small. _But they could be out there._

_I can't hurt her, Jacob, _Seth states, his voice small.

_And I won't either. But_, I glance at him, _that doesn't mean I won't restrict her movements if I have to. _

He nodded in understanding just as she broke through the trees. Her body was drained, but a force was driving her. It was clear to both of us. She stared at us she walked forward, her body showing no signs of fight. My eyes tightened, however, due to the fact that she was completely unpredictable.

_Leah? _Seth asked, moving towards her slightly.

She walked to him, pressing her snout into his fur. _I had to leave them, Seth. I can't stand to go back. _

Seth looked at me, his eyes showing all of the shock I was feeling. His eyes turned questioning, and I nodded. _She can stay with us. _

_Thank you, Jacob. _Leah mutters, and I turn as they separate.

_Come, we need to let everyone know what has happened. _I make my way through the trees, gaining speed by the second.

_We don't have much time, Jacob. They are on their way. _Leah states, catching step beside me.

I say nothing, but my foot falls grow quicker and quieter. They keep up, and we reach the massive Cullen mansion in no time. The house comes into view, and everyone is standing on the back porch, poised for attack. They all calm as we near, but their hard eyes are trained on Leah.

_She is joining us, _I say to Edward.

He sighs, his chest deflating. "Leah has joined us," he states, the family around him relaxing as well. They each fall into pairs, Jasper disappearing into the house to return to Bella. I watch him go before glancing over at the pixie vamp. My eyebrows lift as I find her staring at Leah. Looking to Leah, I see her doing the same in return. Seth looks on curiously, and our eyes meet. He shrugs, taking a few steps towards Leah so he bumps her side. She glances at him, but her eyes are soon back on the pixie's.

"Leah," the seer whispers moving forward to make her way down the stairs.

Leah takes one step forward before her eyes widen, and they both freeze. The disgust in Leah's eyes is just as apparent as the pain in Alice's.

_Imprint..._Seth trails off just as a large branch cracks behind us. We turn to see glowing eyes peering through the darkness. Everyone grows alert, fully poised for attack. Time is frozen, and we all stand, waiting.

Who would make the first move? Where will tomorrow be?

Same, different? Life, death?

**A/N:**** Whatcha think? Well, leave a review and let me know! **

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**Questions? Ask in a review or PM, and they will be answered as soon as possible J**

**Until next time…**

**~Much Love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX**


	7. Better? Maybe So

Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.

Instinctual Reactions

A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. Don't forget that nominations are going up for various awards! – Bella'Xo

Chapter 7

(Edward's POV)

A howl resounded across our territory. It was Seth's no doubt, for I knew that is sister, Leah, had joined us this day, as well. Why? I hadn't been told yet, but any extra numbers helped us all the more.

"It's a false alarm," I told the rest of the family who looked to me for an explanation. "Set was upset about something else, and he forgot we were listening for a signal. He's very young."

"Nice to have toddlers guarding the fort," Emmett grumbled.

"They've done us a great service tonight, Emmett," Carlisle said. "At great personal sacrifice."

"Yeah, I know." Emmett sighed. "I was just jealous. I wish I was out there."

"Seth doesn't think Sam will attack now either," I said mechanically. "Not with us forewarned and on guard waiting for them, especially lacking three members of the pack."

"Three?" Rosalie asked.

"It appears that Leah has joined them now, too." I explained.

"Why?" Jasper questioned as he stood somewhat in front of Bella's gurney.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "They keep moving in and out of my hearing range as they patrol."

"What does Jacob think?" Carlisle asked.

I sighed, looking back out the window towards where I kept hearing the voices fading in and out from my gift. "He's not as optimistic."

No one spoke. There was a quiet dripping sound that I couldn't place. I could hear everyone's low breathing – and we could all separate Bella's from the rest. It was harsher, labored. It hitched and broke in strange rhythms. We could all hear her heart and I had no doubts that Jacob, Leah and Seth could hear it, as well. It seemed… too fast. I paced it against the wolves' heart beats, but I wasn't sure if that was any measure. It wasn't like they were normal.

I looked back towards her direction as she breathed and the monitor beeped, praying to whatever higher power that there was up there that my Bella would make it through whatever was there ahead of her.

(Jacob's POV)

I was right on the edge of sleep.

The sun had risen behind the clouds an hour ago – the forest was gray now instead of black. Seth had curled up and passed out around one, and I'd woken him at dawn to trade off as Leah still ran her patrol. Even after running all night, I was having a hard time making my brain shut up long enough to fall asleep, but Seth's rhythmic run was helping.

One, two – three, four… One, two – three, four – dum, dum –dum, dum…

Paws thudded against the damp earth of a new day, over and over as he made we made the wide circuit surrounding the Cullen's land. We were already wearing a trail into the ground after only a day and a half. Seth's thoughts were empty, just a blur of green and gray as the woods flew past them. It was restful. It helped to fill my head with what they saw rather than letting my own images take center stage.

'Come on, Leah,' Seth groaned God only knows how many times since she arrived. 'Go home. We don't need you here, too.'

I stopped when Seth had thrown his head back, ready to how again – this time to complain.

'Cut the noise, Seth.'

'Right. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!' He whimpered and pawed at the ground, scratching deep furrows in the dirt.

Leah trotted into view, her small gray body weaving through the underbrush. 'Stop whining, Seth. You're such a baby!'

I growled at her, my ears flattening against my skull. She skipped back a step automatically.

'What do you think you're doing, Leah? Even with this imprint that you seem to have, you don't seem to want to protect any of them, including Bella!'

She huffed a heavy sigh.

'It's pretty obvious, isn't it? I'm joining your crappy little renegade pack. The vampires' guard dogs; Imprint or no imprint." She barked a low, sarcastic laugh.

'No, you're not. Turn around before I rip out one of your hamstrings. It's not like you're giving into the imprint, so what's the point of trusting you?' I asked.

'Like you could catch me.' She grinned and coiled her body for launch. 'Screw the seer. Wanna race, Oh fearless leader?'

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs until my sides bulged. Then, when I was sure I wasn't going to scream, I exhaled in a gust.

'Seth, go let the Cullen's know what's going on with your stupid sister, whether the seer knows what's going on or not.' I thought the words as harshly as possible. We'll deal with this, some how.

'On it!' Seth was only too hapy to leave. He vanished toward the house.

Leah whined, and she leaned after him, the fur on her shoulders rising. 'You're going to let him run off to the vampire's alone?'

'I'm pretty sure he'd rather they took him out than spend another minute with you.' I mocked her.

'Shut up, Jacob. Oops, I'm sorry – I meant, shut up, most high Alpha.' I could hear her snickering in her mind as she mocked me with her bitchy tone.

'Why the hell are you even here if you don't care about your imprint?' I growled.

'You think I'm just going to sit home while my little brother volunteers as a vampire chew toy?' She asked sarcastically.

'Seth doesn't want or need your protection. In fact, no one wants you here. I doubt that even the seer wants you here.' I mocked her.

'Ohh, ha ha,' she barked. 'I'm used to being unwanted. It's nothing new to me.'

'So, this isn't about Seth at all, is it? You actually do care about your imprint?' I asked her somewhat surprised.

'Of course it is. I'm just pointing out that being unwanted is not a first for me. Not really a motivating factor, if you know what I mean, whether Alice wants me around or not.'

I gritted my teeth and tried to get my head straight. 'Did Sam send you?'

'If I was here on Sam's errand, you wouldn't be able to hear me. My allegiance is no longer with him.'

I listened carefully to the thoughts mixed in the words. If this was a diversion or a ploy in any way, imprint or no imprint, I had to be alert enough to see through it. I knew that she would rather die than be an imprint to a vampire, even if it was one of the Cullen's. But there was nothing. Her declaration was nothing but the truth, whether it was to be here for the seer or Seth, I didn't know. Even if it was the unwilling, almost despairing truth.

'You're loyal to me now?' I asked with deep sarcasm. 'Uh huh, right. You would sooner tear the seer apart than let the imprint take place.'

'My choices are limited. I'm working with the options I've got.'She admitted. 'I can't help who I imprint on, whether it is a girl or a vampire, but at least I'm out from under Sam's thumb. Trust me, I'm not enjoying this any more than you are.'

That wasn't true. There was an edgy kind of excitement to her mind. She was unhappy about the entire bit, but she was also riding some weird high. I think it had something to do with finally being out of Sam's grasp.

I searched her mind, trying to understand. She bristled, resenting the intrusion. I usually tried to tune Leah out – I'd never tried to make sense of her before.

We were interrupted by Seth, thinking his explanation at Edward. Leah whined anxiously. Edward's face, framed in the same window as the other day, showed no reaction to the news, aside from a quick glance towards the seer's direction, but said nothing. He was blank faced – as dead as he was before, though not nearly a burning.

'Wow, he looks bad,' Seth muttered to himself. The vampire showed no reaction to that thought either. He disappeared into the house.

Seth pivoted and headed back out to us. Leah was still tense, but relaxed a little.

'What's going on?' Leah asked anxiously. 'Catch me up to speed!' I internally smirked at this. She ignored me and continued her conversation with Seth.

'There's no point. You're not staying!' I huffed.

'Actually Mr. Alpha, I am, because since apparently I belong to someone – and don't think I haven't tried breaking off the imprint and going off on my own, but to no avail.' She grumbled. 'Even when it comes to alphas, it doesn't work. I have to belong to a pack. You know yourself how well that doesn't work – So, I choose you!'

'Leah, you don't like me. I don't like you. And you most certainly don't like your imprint, so I know you would have tried longer to fight it, so there has to be some ulterior motive.' I pressed.

'Thank you, Captain Obvious!' Leah huffed. 'That doesn't matter. I'm staying with Seth, no matter what is going on with my so called imprint, or how much I distaste my alpha. So, live with it!'

'But you don't like vampires! Don't you think that's a little conflict of interest right there, even without the imprint?' I tried to argue even further.

'You don't like vampires either!'

'But I am committed to this alliance. You, however, aren't!' I insisted.

'I'll keep my distance from all of them, including the seer. I can run patrols out here, just like Seth.' She proposed.

'And I'm supposed to trust you with that?' I asked.

She stretched her neck, leaning up on her toes, trying to be as tall as me as she stared into my eyes. 'I will not betray my pack.'

I smirked a Wolfe grin at her. 'I notice that you didn't sayimprint.'

'Shut up!' She pounced forward, but didn't attempt to snap at me.

I wanted to throw my head back and howl, like Seth had before.'This isn't your pack! This isn't even a pack. This is just me, going off on my own! What is it with you Clearwaters? Why can't you just leave me alone? You know that you'd rather attempt to destroy them with Sam and his gang. Especially since discovering what you did regarding the seer -"

Seth, just coming up behind us now, whined; I'd offended him.Great.

'I've been helpful, haven't I, Jake?'

'You haven't made too much a nuisance of yourself, kid, but if you and Leah are a package deal, regardless if what she says about her bond towards her imprint is true – if the only way to get rid of her is for you to go home… Well, can you blame me for wanting you gone?'

'Ugh, Leah, you ruin everything!'

'Yeah, I know,' She told him, and the thought was loaded with heaviness of her despair as she thought of Seth and Alice. I felt the pain in her three little words, and it was more than I would've guessed. I didn't want to feel that. I didn't want to feel bad for her. Sure, having found out that not only was her imprint a female, but a vampire female was hard for her to grasp, even if she couldn't control it, and, not to mention, the pack was alwaysrough on her, but she can't help who she imprints on and in my opinion, she brought everything with the pack all on herself with the bitterness that tainted her every thought and made being in her head a nightmare.

'Seth was feeling guilty, too' Leah supplied.

'You're not really going to send me away, are you?' Seth whined. 'Leah's not so bad, and she will adapt to her imprint, whether she wants to or not.' He insisted. 'Really, I mean, with her here, we can push the perimeter out farther. And this puts Sam, down to seven. There's no way he's going to mount an attack that outnumbered us. It's probably a good thing…'

'You know I don't want to lead a pack, Seth.' I reminded him.

'So, don't lead us,' Leah offered.

I snorted. 'Sounds perfect to me. Run along home, now.'

'Jake,' Seth thought. 'I belong here. I do like vampires; the Cullen's, anyway. They're people to me, and I'm going to protect them, cause that's what we're supposed to do.'

'Maybe you belong, kid, but your sister doesn't, regardless of her imprint. And she's going to go wherever you are -"

I stopped short, because I saw something when I said that. Something Leah had been trying not to think.

Leah wasn't going anywhere.

'I thought this was about Seth?' I thought sourly.

She flinched. 'Of course, I'm here for Seth. And to get away from Sam.' Her jaw clenched when she saw the internal smirk I had when I discovered her thoughts about her and Alice, no matter how hard she tried to fight it, the bond of the imprint was taking her over. 'I don't have to explain myself to you. I have to do what I'm told. I belong to your pack, Jacob, The end.'

I paced away from her, growling and sighing in resignation.

Crap. I was never going to get away from her. As much as shedisliked me, as much as she loathed the Cullen's, as happy as she'd be to kill all the vampires right now and break the imprint, as much as it pissed her off to feel the need to protect them instead – none of that was anything compared to the pull she felt toward Alice and what she felt being free from Sam.

I guess this is the way that is was going to be, whether I liked it or not. Who knows? Maybe it would be for the better?

A/N: there ya go! Hope everyone liked it. Please read and review! :)

have a wonderful day and Merry Christmas!

Much Love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX


	8. Love and War

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. Don't forget that nominations are going up for various awards! – Bella'Xo**

**Chapter 8**

**(Jasper's POV)**

"How bad... is it?" Bella stammered out harshly between labored breaths.

I looked over Carlisle's shoulder, reading down the page. His quick, trained scribble was crossing the page; small notes here, one word reminders there. The words meant very little to me, as I knew very little about anything medicinal, but every word seems oh so important at this point in time. Bella was involved. I felt like I could read a medical book in less than a second if it could help me understand what was wrong with Bella. Even so, I doubt anything I could find in a book could help at all with our situation.

It was all too supernatural.

Bella stared as Carlisle reviewed his notes one more time with a sigh. "You're getting worse," Carlisle stated, not beating around the bush.

I twisted my lips as I took a step back from him, resting my lower back against the raised hospital bed. Bella sighed roughly behind me as she shifted in the bed, the frame shaking against me in the process.

"I'm aware of that, Doctor Cullen," Bella stated. I could not stop the smirk that passed my lips as Carlisle shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "What I mean is, what exactly has gotten worse?"

Carlisle's eyes met hers. "You're blood pressure has dropped and you're heart's become vulnerable. I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on that, Bella. We don't need that getting worse." It's not like Bella was getting any worse anyway...

Bella nodded in understanding. "What are we supposed to do?" she asked, her breathing becoming harsh again as she looked between us.

Carlisle took the paper from his clipboard and placed it in the folder on his desk. He took it over to the filing cabinet and put it in its place. "I honestly don't know."

I stared at him as he turned, gazing at Bella speculatively. "I'll think it over tonight; see if I can find something that could help." He left the room soon after, disappearing as the door clipped quietly and stood open.

I looked down, reaching back and rubbing my hand across Bella's uncovered foot. It shifted beneath my fingers, and my hand trailed up her ankle to her shin. I rubbed circles across the length of her leg beneath her knee. I glanced up at her to see her eyes had fallen closed, her face released. I smiled at the sight. Though her heartbeat was erratic, her body diminishing, her face sunken in, the visual differences that plagued her beauty, this was the most calm she had been in a week or so. It was wonderful to see, and it was even better knowing that it was I that was making her feel as such. And without my power!

A low groan met my ears as my eyes traced across the numerous paintings that lined the walls of Carlisle's office. They flashed to her as her face twisted, and her pain swam across my nerves. I turned, taking those few steps so I was even with her head. I laid a hand on her cheek and she turned her head into it.

"Shh… Shh… what's wrong?" I asked her, looking over her body.

"M-my stomach… hurts...the baby's...kicking," she breathed out, shifting to find a more comfortable spot.

I stood by her protruding stomach, slowing lifting her shirt to reveal her extremely pale skin. The ivory was spotted in blue, black and purple, results of the baby's supernatural strength. I laid a hand on the sensitive skin, and she shivered harshly at the contact before melting into the bed. I glanced at her just as I felt some contact. The baby's foot pressed against my hand, and a small smile stretched across my lips. Bella's happiness then was delightful and sweet. I looked up to see her smiling at me, beads of sweat covering her forehead.

I took my hand from her stomach as the contact ended and laid it across her forehead, sweeping it downward to her cheek. It rested there, and I leaned forward, moving my face closer to hers. Her eyes met mine as she mirrored my action with her hand on my skin.

"The baby already loves you," she whispered.

I smiled, releasing my breath out of my nose in a whoosh. "I'm happy. The child will be the most protected being in the world."

She giggled lightly. "I can trust you, Jasper," she said, growing serious. "You will keep my baby safe?" She wondered, resting her free hand on her belly.

"We all will, Angel," I replied, a promise sweeping through my words.

Her eyes met mine, then, and I could see the request in her eyes. "Should I not make it...?"

"Bella," I interjected, "you will, don't think like that."

She glared at me. "If I don't, you must care for my child."

"Edward?" I questioned.

"Help him," she stated. "Keep him alive, for me."

"I promise," I whispered, resting my forehead against hers.

She smiled, and I lifted my chin to press a kiss on her delicate nose. Her fingers curled slightly against my cheek so her eyes were trained to mine. I found myself drowning in them, sinking deeper into their brown abyss. I went down like a dying man, taking in those last breaths. One final breath...

My lips were on hers in the next second. I tasted the strawberries, could feel the soft petals of freesias as my hand rubbed against ear arm. The warmth of her hand practically melted against my skin as it rested against my neck, her fingers rubbing there. I breathed in, molding my lips with hers deliciously. They moved in synchronization, the force perfect between each brushing lip, with every nibble and soft wave. It was more purity than I could have imagined, full of pure innocence.

"Bella..."

We pulled away roughly, our touches falling away as I turned and we both looked to the door. Bella gasped, and I could only stare, wishing to disappear and leave the agony.

"Edward," Bella gasped. He looked on in anguish, more pain in his eyes than ever before.

**._.:* ~ Instinctual Reactions ~ *:._.**

**(Bella's POV)**

I was trembling, wanting to she'd my own skin and burn it, hoping to feel the pain of what I had done. What had I done? What was becoming of me? I was turning into a fish. My lips vibrated,meeting and parting again, as I stared at Edward. I was working up to an explanation, maybe only a single word to lay down his pain, lessen the anguish. Though, I could not find a way to. Even in myself, it was chaos. The fires within me raged, and though they raged for years for only one, now the sparks were parting, flying raucously across my skull. I was diverted, completely paranoid in the fact tact I had just kissed my non-legalized brother with my legitimate husband standing in the doorway. All while carrying his child.

How fucked up could things get?

"Edward..." I repeated and his eyes bore into mine. "I-I am...I am so extremely...sorry. Please..." Please what? Forgive me? Kill me from my stupidity? Walk away? Leave me? Hate me? What did I wish of him?

"Why?" His lips parted just enough for a breath to leave but no more as a practically silent word passed his lips.

I stared at him, thinking of the proper reply. "I-I don't...know."

His eyes glazed with unshedable tears. "Was I a gate standing in your way?" He asked pitifully, glancing at Jasper.

"No... No, not at all," I breathed out, rising up in the bed quickly - Which was a huge mistake. I gripped my shirt in my hand, moving to the side and rushing to my feet. The blood rushed downward, causing my legs to wobble, but I stayed tall even though my body ached harshly.

Edward had me in his arms in the next second, holding me against him. I gazed up at him as he lifted me slightly, getting the weight off my own feet.

"Why?" I asked him, turning the tables.

He shook his head. "I can't let you...I don't have it in me to..." He tried to tell me, but he could not seem to get it straight out. He sighed, his eyes still glossy. "I can't let you get harmed by your own body, even as I wish to she'd tears because of you." He sniffed. "Do you love me? Have you ever loved me at all?"

My eyes began to grow misty as the questions left his lips and pierced my very core. What was I to tell him? I, myself, could not even find where the action had come from. It felt as though something else was driving me. I was disconnected from my brain, my own common sense. "Forever, Edward, that was no fake promise-" I was stopped as he lookers away from me, looking at Jasper before his eyes turned to the window.

"An empty promise, then," he surmised.

"No, Edward, I love you. I do." The tears leaked out, rolling down my cheeks. "I can't understand. I kissed him, yes," I could not deny this, "but I never meant to. And I-I have always loved you, but...but-"

"But?" Edward inquired, falling deeper into his despair as my explanations gave no sense of security.

"The flames have burned for you, but they are divided now. The sparks moving from side to side," I supplied, looking away as I sniffled, gripping Edward's sleeve in my hand. I squeezed my eyes close for a second, and they immediately opened as I felt Edward recoil. I looked up at him in terror. "No, Edward, don't-"

"Why not?" He whispered at me harshly. "Your heart is divided. I will not stand here and watch it shatter, only to be put together by another."

I stared on in horror as he moved away from me, turning away from my. I planted a hand on the bed as my weight fell onto my all too weak legs. I could only stare as Edward made to leave, and I had no full proof way to stop him.

"Edward, don't go," Jasper intervened.

"Don't command me," Edward growled, turning and glaring at Jasper. "I have been through everything with her, and we were brothers!" Edward shook his head, his cheat shaking as he broke down even more, the pain forcing his strength to melt away, just as I drowned in his agony.

"Edward..."Jasper whispered, moving closer as the venom gathered in his darkening eyes. "Hate me, if you must, but not her. I...I initiated the kiss."

I looked at him. Okay, that was not entirely true. Edward growled in his chest, moving towards Jasper. I gasped and stumbled forward, planting against Edward again. "Wait, Edward."

"What?" He snarled quietly.

I gasped up at him. "This is wrong! It was a mistake for us to kiss, I know that. But he did not initiate the kiss." I looked back at the blonde vampire who was changing his gaze from me to Edward and back. "That does not fix the fact that it was wrong, but I can swear that what happened was not of our fault."

"How was it not? You've both been glued to each other since we came back from our honeymoon. How much time have we spent together, Bella? Hmm? Not much, that's for sure. My _brother_ has kept you preoccupied, and you've kept me out of the picture," he accused. His words stung, I'll admit, but they did not mask out the honest truth here.

Jasper and I were coming together by some force we could not control. Do I love Jasper? Yes, but not like a lover, more like a really close friend. Of course, that's how it was with Jacob and look how that ended. I needed my husband, by me, forgiving my stupid mistakes like always, but I'll be damned if I lose another important person. Especially over a mistake and a situation that I cannot even control properly and by my own will.

More tears gathered in my eyes, but I could feel such a strength bubbling beneath the surface that I ignored the diamonds wishing to fall. "We are being controlled, I swear."

He looked at me like I had gone nuts. Hell, maybe I have. And I was apparently taking Jasper down with me.

I groaned in my throat. "That sounds stupid, but I can promise you this, Edward, we both initiated the kiss, but it was not of our own will." I looked down. "Nothing has been..." My voice faded away as I looked back at Jasper. "Have you felt that pull? Felt like something has been bringing you to me, and vice versa, that you can't control? Cause I have, and I haven't fought it. Up until now, I hadn't questioned it." I stared at the floor in despair as I began counting my mistakes since our return. I was so stupid! "I should have been. I mean, look what's happened. All of you are at war over our child, my sister suddenly likes me, my best friends are gone, the pack has split, Carlisle and Esme are worried, I haven't even _spoken_ to my bear of a brother, I just kissed my new best friend, my husband's brother, Alice's husband, by not controlling myself, and," I looked up at Edward, "I have hurt my own husband so many times that I can't even count, and I kept waiting on when you would walk away, and when I need you most, you are closer to the door than before. I can stay under this odd trance, pushed to a friend, but when it goes away, I will have nothing to keep me standing but invisible strings. My only question," I looked out the window, "is who will be the puppet master?"

From my peripheral, I watched Edward sigh, bow his head and close his eyes for a moment. They opened, and he looked down on me. "No one is going to control you, Bella."

I looked up at him, shaking my head as I noticed the understanding in his eyes. He does he dothat? I know I'm asking for it, begging for understanding, but he always does, and not once have I fought for it.

"How can you never walk away? You're always so understanding..." I shook my head. "I often wish you could take my mistakes and use them to fuel your hatred, but then I thank God that you are still here to love me." I shook my head, feeling the hysteria bubble up from my core. "I mean, I'm being controlled right now. How do I know this? Because I basically cheated on my husband," Edward winced at that, "and I kissed a man who I have only had decent contact with in the last few weeks only." Jasper looked down in shame at that, taking the blame for the moment. "No," I commanded, "do not feel bad for this. We are both at fault."

"But you said the kiss was a mistake," Edward stated, desperate for a full proof piece of truth in this catastrophe. I kept straying from my story but none it was lies.

"It was," Jasper replied. "But I agree with Bella." He looked at me, and I nodded to him.

"And look what I've done," I said, placing a hand on Edward's cheek, mindful of the fact that he could remove it at any moment. "I haven't even fought for you like you always have for me. I've pushed you away, and now I'm vying for your help, your attention, and you were giving it to me all the while...I just never noticed. I had tunnel vision." I looked away from him in shame, and Jasper shuffled behind me as he felt that same.

"Can you find it in you… to forgive me, forgive us… and clear my head? Help me see everything… but myself again?" I asked him, expecting a definite denial. My knees buckled beneath my weight then, and I was on the couch before I could process the movement. I was just so weak and only getting weaker. Every little thing was taking more and more energy out of me.

Edward was a few feet away with Jasper the same distance on the other side of the room. A perfect triangle. Edward was staring at me, his eyes hard, and Jasper was looking on desperately, communicating with his eyes that he did not know what would happen, but he would leave if he had to or take care of me if he had to. He was straddling lava, each foot on a rock, and he knew it.

"I will." My heart jumped. "But only if I get an explanation. What do you guys think the reason for your sudden budding romance?" Ouch, right where it hurts.

I looked down and glanced over at Jasper. He shrugged, having no idea what to say. I sighed. "We aren't completely sure, Edward."

He echoed my sigh, shifting and coming forward so he was a foot or so away from me now. Jasper stayed away. I felt pure hatred at myself then as I could feel my body wanting to be closer to his. From the look in his eyes, he felt the same. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply and fighting the pull. My eyes popped open, and I let out the most pathetic growl in history.

"Damn it! I love you both!" I gripped my hair in my hand, pulling hard as my breathing grew labored. "I don't want to feel like this! I love Edward! I love Edward! Jasper is my friend, nothing more! What is wrong with me?!" I yelled. Cold hands clasped my wrists, tugging lightly. I gripped tighter, feeling the strain on my skin and the pain that flared.

"Bella, love, let go!" Edward's voice fell over my senses and the pull immediately disappeared. I gasped, dropping my hands as my head whipped up so I was looking into the eyes of my husband.

"You called me 'Love'..." I breathed.

Edward released the breath he was holding and looked like at me like I had lost it...again. "You are the love of my existence." He smiled slightly before dropping onto the bed beside me, and holding my hand in his lap. "Forever, that was my promise, and I'm keeping it. But, we need to figure this out." He looked at Jasper and back to me. "I'm not going to walk in and see your lips on my wife's again. If I do, you're mine, you got me?" He threatened Jasper.

Jasper snorted at the serious tone that Edward spoke, but he still understood and respected him. "Crystal."

Edward nodded. "Now, we need to get Carlisle up here and discuss this. He may know of something that could be causing this." As the final word passed his lips, a light knock rapped against the frame of the door. Carlisle wandered inside.

"You called," he chirped.

"Indeed. You've been listening in?" Edward wondered.

Carlisle tilted his head a moment, looking on secretly knowledgeable. "Not really. I've heard snippets-"

"He's listened in," Jasper entered.

"Yes, I have," Carlisle sighed. "Truthfully, I don't have a single theory. And if I did, it would be completely inappropriate."

Edward and I glanced at one another. "What is it?" He wondered.

Carlisle sighed. "I truly think I'm wrong, but what if it's the baby?"

I laid a hand on my stomach, staring at him incredulously. "The baby?" I repeated stupidly.

Edward, however, was completely speculative. His hand was to his chin, and he was deep in thought. Carlisle noticed, and his eyes widened. "Edward, no," he shook his head, "that was simply a theory. And a bad one, at that."

"Maybe so, but does it not make complete sense? I mean, we go away on our honeymoon and these two," he gestures to me and Jasper, "can't even be in the same room together. We come back, Bella's pregnant, and they cannot even be separated. What if the child has some kind of ability to reel people in that he or she wants close? The baby must be at least a little supernatural, abnormal, and that makes it completely possible."

Carlisle nodded, but I interrupted his train of thought. "But wouldn't that mean that our baby, our child in the womb, wants Jasper? Doesn't that make him a pedophile?" I looked at Jasper. "No offense, but I don't want you guys like that. That's just weird, not to mention gross-"

"And I don't want his lips on yours," Edward interjected. "If we figure this out, it will be easier to keep both of you abstinent from each other."

I opened my mouth to counteract his words, but my lips popped together in agreement, or surrender, I could not completely decide. "True. But what I still don't understand is how it ispossible? Supernatural or not, our child is too young for this…"

"Maybe not," Carlisle replied. "Given your rate of progression, a normal baby would be going on seven to eight months. Add that with the supernatural factor, and, in a weird way, this would be completely normal."

"So, what all of you are saying," Jasper began, "is that I am basically going after a seven month old baby?" We all stared at him, nodding in synchronization. The amount of discuss on his face then was incredibly comical. His entire body shuddered, and he rubbed at his mouth furiously. "Oh, gross! That's disgusting! What the hell is wrong with me?"

Carlisle chuckled slightly. "It's not necessarily you, Jasper."

He sighed. "Maybe so, but I don't want to want him or her until..." His eyes widened. "What if the child's a him?" His eyes were wide.

Edward could not seem to stop the smirk that escaped then. "That, my brother, would make you gay," he stated, sounding suspiciously like Emmett.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Carlisle added before they both burst into laughter.

Jasper growled, looking at me as he recalled all of our past conversations about me believing that the baby is a boy. "You better have a damn girl."

I moved to shrug but I scrunched up in pain before I got the chance. I groaned, breathing heavily as another sharp kick contacted my ribs. "I think," I wheezed out, "that I'm having a girl."

Carlisle rushed forward, helping me lean back so he could check my bruises. The new ones were already forming. "You wanted a boy," Carlisle stated knowingly.

I looked down, sheepish. "Yes, but a beautiful girl would be fantastic."

"A girl as beautiful as her mother," Edward said before his face grew shocked, and he gasped, falling to his knees by the bed. His eyes were trained on my stomach.

"Edward?" Jasper asked, alarmed.

"I heard her... I heard her," Edward chanted, falling to his knees in front of my spot on the couch and gently pushed up my now oversized sweatshirt to reveal my battered and bruised stomach.

"Who?" I placed a hand on his cheek. He looked at me, eyes wide as he rose high up up on his knees, resting a hand on my uncovered belly.

"Our baby," he whispered, and tears immediately fell down my cheeks as I covered his hand with mine.

"Really?" I questioned excitedly.

He nodded in wonder, shaking his head as he listened. "She loves you." He stared at me, smiling. He chuckled a moment. "She loves me."

I sniffled, smiling widely. "How could she not? You're amazing."

"Says you." He smirked as I stuck my tongue at him childishly. "I thought that she was like me, but she's like you; caring, loving, affectionate...human…" He looked back up at me and smiled.

Carlisle soon fell into the conversation, staring at Edward. "How advanced is she?"

Edward's eyes met his seriously. He was listening in on Carlisle's thoughts as he spoke. "She knows my name and Bella's, a great understanding of love, but very little otherwise. She knows you as well, Carlisle and you too, Jasper. She loves the sound of your voice."

"Really?" Jasper asked, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Yes," Edward confirmed. "It seems to soothe her."

Carlisle's eyes widened in alarm, and Edward gasped as he listened to Carlisle's sure-to-be confusing thoughts.

"What is it?" I asked, alarmed at the silence, the stillness that now invaded the room.

"We need to be prepared," Edward said to Carlisle.

"What is it? Prepared for what?" I murmured again, growing louder.

"We need to prepare because," Edward turned to me, "you could deliver at any day during this week. You're so far along, there's no telling when it could happen."

I gasped, thinking of it. My head tilted down as my eyes traced the bed around me. I could deliver at any day now, I could be a mother at this time tomorrow, Edward could be a father at any hour, we could have our baby at any moment. "Our baby..." I whispered.

"Yes," Edward breathed, kissing my cheek softly, matching the flutter of a butterfly's wing, "our baby."

"But," Carlisle said, "We need to figure all of this out before she comes." He looked over at Jasper. "We can't have a miscommunication going on. She is Edward and Bella's daughter. I don't wish to have a separation, but if we do not find a way to combat this situation before she comes, there could be damaging consequences. So, I would like to try to delay your delivery foras far into the week as we can. It should give us enough time to make sense of everything. Also, we need to find a way to get some food or nutrition into your body, because the way that you are, you won't make it through the delivery. Your heart is already working too hard now; if it should fail… there won't be anything for me to do."

We all nodded silently, the tension growing between us again, the air becoming heavy.

"We need to see if there is anything that Emmett has found regarding our situation that would be really helpful, because from what we can observe, the baby just isn't compatible with your body, love. We need to figure all of this out, and not only that," Edward murmured. "But we need to figure out how we are going to go through with the delivery. I have to keep you alive and not harm our child." He reminded me as he looked at me.

I hadn't thought of all that. I was so focused on the fact that I needed to keep my frail self alive that it did not occur to me that my child may be in as much danger as myself. "You have to save her."

"No, I will save you both," Edward stated strongly.

"But if you have to choose-" I started.

"I won't have to choose." He looked at Carlisle. "You'll help me?"

He smiled slightly and nodded, taking my hand in his like a true father would, just as he was. "Both of you will make it, my daughter. I promise."

I smiled. "Thanks, dad." He flashed his pearls.

"Now, we wait, I suppose," Jasper stated.

Edward nodded. "Indeed."

"But, we still have not answered the initial question," Carlisle said. We all looked at him. "How will the occurrence affect all of you when the baby gets here?"

Silence filled the room, and, for once, we were all speechless.

_**"The world is never quiet, even its silence eternally resounds with the same notes, in vibrations which escape our ears. As for those that we perceive, they carry sounds to us, occasionally a chord, never a melody." ~Albert Camus**_

**Thoughts? I'd love to hear them! Plee, review, alert, and favorite! We'd love to hear that you have to say :)**

**Hope you all enjoyed!**

**Much Love~Zoe~VSA~XOXOX**


	9. It Shouldn't be Clear

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**  
**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. Don't forget that nominations are going up for various awards! – Bella'Xo**

**Chapter 9**

**(Jacob's POV)**

I changed into my other form when I was a few yards from the lawn. I hadn't been planning to spend much time human here, but I hadn't been planning to have Leah in my head, either.

I pulled on my ragged shorts and started across the lawn. The door opened before I got to the steps and I was surprised to see Carlisle rather than Edward step outside to meet me – his face looked exhausted and defeated. For a second, my heart froze. I faltered to a stop, unable to speak.

"Are you all right, Jacob?" Carlisle asked.

"Is Bella?" I choked out.

"She's… much the same as last night. Did I startle you? I'm sorry. Edward said you were coming in your human form and I came out to greet you, as he didn't want to leave her. She's awake."

And Edward didn't want to lose any time with her, because he wasn't sure if he'd have much time left. Carlisle didn't say the words out loud, but he might as well have.

It had been a while since I'd slept – since before my last patrol. I could really feel that now. I took a step forward and sat down on the porch steps, slumping against the railing.

Moving whisper-quiet as only a vampire could, Carlisle took a seat on the same step against the other railing. "I didn't get a chance to thank you last night, Jacob. You don't know how much I appreciate your… compassion. I know your goal was to protect Bella, but I owe you the safety of the rest of my family as well. Edward told me what you had to do…"

"Don't mention it," I muttered. "If you prefer."

We sat in silence. I could hear the other in the house; Rosalie, Alice and Emmett speaking in low, serious voices upstairs while Esme was humming tunelessly in another room. Jasper and Edward breathing close by – I couldn't tell which was which, but I could hear the difference in Bella's labored panting. I could hear her heart too. It seemed… uneven.  
It was like fate was out to make me do everything I'd ever sworn I wouldn't in the course of twenty-four hours. Here I was, hanging around, waiting for her to die.

I didn't want to listen anymore. Talking was better than listening.

"She's family to you?" I asked Carlisle. It had caught my notice before when he'd said I'd helped the rest of his family too.  
"Yes. Bella is already a daughter to me. A beloved daughter."

"But you're going to let her die." I challenged.

He was quiet long enough that I looked up. His face was very, very tired. I knew how he felt.

"I can imagine what you think of me for that," he finally said. "But I can't ignore her will. It wouldn't be right to make such a choice for her, to force her."

I wanted to be angry with him, but he was making it hard. It was like he was throwing my own words back at me, just scrambled up. They'd sounded right before, but they couldn't be right now. Not with Bella dying. Still… I remembered how it felt to be broken on the ground under Sam – to have no choice but to be involved in the murder of someone I loved. It wasn't the same, though. Sam was wrong. And Bella loved things she shouldn't.

"Do you think there's any chance she'll make it? I mean, as a vampire and all that. She told me about… about Esme."  
"I'd say there's an even chance at this point." He answered quietly. "I've seen vampire venom work miracles, but there are conditions that even venom cannot overcome. Her heart is working too hard now; if it should fail… well…there are just some things that even venom can't repair."

Bella's heartbeat throbbed and faltered, giving an agonizing emphasis to his words.

Maybe the planet had started turning backward. Maybe that would explain how everything was the opposite of what it had been yesterday – how I could be hoping for what had once seemed like the very worst thing in the world.

"What is that thing doing to her?" I whispered. "She was so much worse last night. I saw… the tubes and all that, through the window."

"The fetus isn't compatible with her body. Too strong, for one thing, but she could probably endure that for a while. The bigger problem is that it won't allow her to get the sustenance she needs. Her body is rejecting every form of nutrition. I'm trying to feed her intravenously, but she's just not absorbing it. Everything about her condition is accelerated. I'm watching her – and not just her, but the baby as well – starve to death by the hour. I can't stop it and I can't slow it down. I can't figure out what it wants."

I felt the same way I had yesterday when I'd seen the black stains across her stomach – furious and a little crazy.  
I clenched my hands into fists to control the shaking. I hated the thing that was hurting her. It wasn't enough for the monster to beat her from the inside out. No, it was starving her too. Probably just looking for something to sink its teeth into – a throat to suck dry. Since it wasn't big enough to kill anyone else yet, it settled for sucking Bella's life from her.  
I could tell them exactly what it wanted: death and blood, blood and death.

My skin was all hot and prickly. I breathed slowly in and out, focusing on that to calm myself.

"I wish I could get a better idea of what exactly it is," Carlisle murmured. "Edward has been able to get faint thoughts from the baby, but it is still too young to know exactly what it wants either way. The fetus is also well protected. I haven't been able to produce an ultrasonic image. I doubt there is any way to get a needle through the amniotic sac, but neither Rosalie nor Jasper will agree to let me try, in any case."

"A needle?" I mumbled. "What good would that do?"

"The more I know about the fetus, the better I can estimate what it will be capable of. From what Edward has said, its intelligence is already far beyond any normal child, probably has the same thoughts that a baby a year old has at this point."

He paused and let out a long sigh. "What I wouldn't give for even a little amniotic fluid. If I knew even the chromosomal count…"

"You're losing me, Doc. Can you dumb it down?"

He chuckled once – even his laugh sounded exhausted. "Okay. How much biology have you taken? Did you study chromosomal pairs?"

"I think so. We have twenty-three, right?"

"Humans do." He agreed.

I blinked. "How many do you have?"

"Twenty-five," He answered.

I frowned at my fists for a second. "What does that mean?"

"I thought it meant that our species were almost completely different - less related than a lion and a house cat. But this new life – well, it suggests that we're more genetically compatible than I'd thought." He sighed sadly. "I didn't know to warn them."

I sighed too. It had been easy to hate Edward for the same ignorance. I still hated him for it. It was just hard to feel the same way about Carlisle. Maybe because I wasn't ten shades of jealous in Carlisle's case.

"It might help to know what the count was – whether the fetus was closer to us or to her, to know what to expect." Then he shrugged. "Ever since Edward started to hear its thoughts, he's come to his own conclusions that it's more like her, but whether that's accurate, I'm not sure. But maybe it won't help anything. I guess I just wish I had something to study, anything to do."

"Wonder what my chromosomes are like," I muttered randomly. I thought of those Olympic steroids tests again. Did they run DNA scans?

Carlisle coughed self-consciously. "You have twenty-four pairs, Jacob." I turned slowly to stare at him, raising my eyebrows. He looked embarrassed. "I was… curious. I took the liberty when I was treating you last June."

I thought about it for a second. "I guess that should piss me off. But I don't really care."

"I'm sorry. I should have asked." He apologized.

"S'Okay, Doc. You didn't mean any harm."

"No, I promise you that I did not mean you any harm. It's just that… I find your species fascinating. I suppose that the elements of vampiric nature have come to seem commonplace to me over the centuries. Your family's divergence from humanity is much more interesting; Magical, almost."

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," I mumbled. He was just like Bella with all that Magic garbage.

Carlisle laughed another weary laugh. Then, we heard Edward's voice inside the house, and we both paused to listen.

"I'll be right back, Bella. I want to speak with Carlisle for a moment. Actually, Rosalie, would you mind accompanying me? Jasper can stay with her." Edward sounded different. There was a little life in his dead voice; A spark of something. Not hope exactly, but maybe the desire to hope.

"What is it, Edward?" Bella asked hoarsely.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Love. It will just take a second." He answered her tentatively. "Please, Rose?"

"Esme?" Rosalie called. "Can you mind Bella for me? Jasper's in there too, but just in case she needs anything. You know those two don't like to be separated."

What was that about, anyway?

I heard the whisper of wind as Esme flitted down the stairs. "Of course," she said.

Carlisle shifted, twisting to look expectantly at the door. Edward was through the door first, with Rosalie right on his heels. His face was, like his voice, no longer dead. He seemed intensely focused. Rosalie looked suspicious.

Edward shut the door behind her.

"Carlisle," he murmured.

"What is it, Edward?"

"Perhaps we've been going about this the wrong way. I was listening to you and Jacob just now, and when you were speaking of what the fetus wants, Jacob had an interesting thought."

_Me? What had I thought, besides my obvious hatred for the thing?_

"After our conversation last night, I had begun to think of ways to get the nutrition that Bella needs into her body. I realized that we haven't actually addressed the fact that we haven't been trying to figure out what the fetus needs," Edward went on. "We've been trying to get Bella what she needs. And her body is accepting it about as well as one of ours would. Perhaps we should address the needs of the fetus first. Maybe if we can satisfy it, we'll be able to help her more effectively."

"I'm not following you, Edward." Carlisle said.

"Think about it, Carlisle. If the fetus is part vampire as well as part human, can't you guess what it craves – what it's not getting? Jacob did."

_I did?_ I ran through the conversation, trying to remember what thoughts I'd kept to myself. I remembered at the same time that Carlisle understood.

"Oh," he said in a surprised tone. "You think it is… thirsty?"

Rosalie hissed under her breath. She wasn't suspicious anymore. Her revolting perfect face was all lit up, her eyes wide with excitement. "Of course," she muttered. "Carlisle, we have all that type O negative laid aside for Bella. It's a good idea." She added, not looking at me.

"Hmmm…" Carlisle put his hand to his chin, lost in thought. "I wonder… And then, what would be the best way to administer…"

Rosalie shook her head. "We don't have to be creative. I'd say we should start the traditional way."

"Wait a minute," I whispered. "Just hold on. Are you – are you talking about making Bella drink blood?"

"It was your idea, dog," Rosalie said, scowling at me without ever quite looking at me.

I ignored her and watched Carlisle. That same ghost of hope that had been in Edward's face was now in the doctor's eyes. He pursed his lips, speculating.

"That's just…" I couldn't find the right word.

"Monstrous?" Edward suggested. "Repulsive?"

"Pretty much."

"But what if it helps her?" he whispered.

I shook my head angrily. "What are you gonna do? Shove a tube down her throat?"

"I plan to ask her what she thinks. I just wanted to run it past Carlisle first."

Rosalie nodded. "If you tell her it might help the baby, she'll be willing to do anything. Even if we do have to feed them through a tube."

I realized then – when I heard how her voice got all lovey-dovey as she said the word baby – that Blondie would be in line with anything that helped the little life-sucking monster. Was that what was going on, the mystery factor that was bonding the two of them? Was Rosalie after the kid?

From the corner of my eye, I saw Edward nod once, absently, not looking in my direction. But I knew he was answering my questions.

Huh. I wouldn't have thought the ice-cold Barbie would have a maternal side. So much for protecting Bella – Rosalie'd probably jam the tube down Bella's throat herself.

Edward's mouth mashed into a hard line, and I knew I was right again.

But if that was Rosalie's motivation, then what was Jasper's?

I noticed Edward wince slightly at that thought and I began to think that he knew what it was and it was something that seemed to weigh heavily on his mind. I would have to make a note to question him on that later on if I couldn't figure it out already.

"Well, we don't have time to sit around discussing this," Rosalie said impatiently. "What do you think, Carlisle? Can we try?"  
Carlisle took a deep breath and then he was on his feet. "We'll ask Bella." Blondie smiled smugly – sure that if it was up to Bella, she would get her way.

I dragged myself up from the stairs and followed after them as they disappeared into the house. I wasn't sure why. Just morbid curiosity, maybe? It was like a horror movie; Monsters and blood all over the place.

Maybe I just couldn't resist another hit of my dwindling drug supply.

**._.-:'~ Instinctual Reactions ~':-._.**

**(Bella's POV)**

I was lying flat on the hospital bed, Jasper's body curled around mine as we both absentmindedly stroked my belly that was like a mountain under the sheet. My skin looked almost wax - colorless and sort of see-through. You'd think I was already dead, except for the tiny movement of my chest, my shallow breathing.  
Jacob, Rosalie, Carlisle and Edward entered the room and my eyes followed the four of them with exhausted suspicion.

What were they up to?

The three vampires were at my side already, flitting across the room with sudden darting motions while Jacob ambled along at a slow walk.

Jasper sat up slightly, taking care not to jiggle me as he watched all of us with protective curiosity.

"What's going on?" I demanded in a scratchy whisper. My hand twitched up instinctively at the same time as Jasper's– like we were trying to protect my balloon-shaped stomach, my little nudger.

"Jacob had an idea that might help you," Carlisle said.

My eyes flickered to Jacob and it was obvious that he had wished that Carlisle would leave him out of it. "It wasn't actually an idea. It was more like a snide comment." He retorted with a slight smirk.

"It won't be… pleasant, but -"

"But it will help the baby," Rosalie interrupted Carlisle eagerly. "We've thought of a better way to feed him. Maybe."

My eyelids fluttered and then I coughed out a weak chuckle. "Not pleasant?" I whispered. "Gosh, that'll be such a change." I eyed the tube stuck into my arm and coughed again. Rosalie laughed with me as the rest of the room offered small smiles at my attempt at a joke.

Edward stepped around Rosalie, no humor touching his intense expression. He took my hand, not the one that was still protecting my swollen belly in both of his. "Bella, Love, we're going to ask you to do something monstrous," he said. "Repulsive."

I took a shallow, fluttery breath. "How bad?"

Carlisle answered. "We think the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than yours. We think it's thirsty."

I blinked. "Oh. Oh."

"Your condition – both of your conditions – are deteriorating rapidly. We don't have time to waste, to come up with more palatable ways to do this. The fastest way to test the theory -"

"I've got to drink it," I whispered. I nodded slightly – barely enough energy for a little head bob. "I can do that. Practice for the future, right?" I looked up at Jasper with a faint grin as he gave me a small smirk in return before switching my gaze toward Edward. He, however, didn't smile back.

Rosalie started tapping her toe impatiently as silences elapsed throughout the room. Jacob looked thoroughly irritated, almost as if he wanted to throw her through the wall right now.

"So, who's going to catch me a grizzly bear?" I whispered. Carlisle and Edward exchanged a quick glance as Rosalie stopped tapping her foot and Jasper's eyebrows shot up. "What?" I asked.

"It will be a more effective test if we don't cut corners, Bella," Carlisle said.

"If the fetus is craving blood," Edward explained, "it's not craving animal blood."

"It won't make a difference to you, Bella." Rosalie said.

"Just don't think about it." Jasper encouraged.

My eyes widened in horror. "Who?" I breathed and my gaze flickered to Jacob.

"I'm not here as a donor, Bells," he grumbled. "Sides, it's human blood that thing's after, and I don't think mine applies -"

"We have blood on hand," Rosalie told me, talking over him before he'd finished, like he wasn't there. I could tell that her presence was really starting to irritate him. "For you – just in case."

"Don't worry about anything at all." Jasper murmured reassuringly. "It's all going to be fine."

Rosalie nodded in agreement. "I have a good feeling about this, Bella. I think the baby will be so much better."

I ran a hand across my stomach, my fingers lazily brushing against Jasper's. "Well," I rasped, barely audible. "I'm starving, so I'll bet she is too." I said trying to make another joke. Tough crowd. "Let's go for it. My first vampire act."

**._.-:'~ Instinctual Reactions ~':-._.**

Carlisle and Rosalie were off in a flash, darting upstairs. I could hear them debating whether they should warm it up for me.

"Ugh," Jacob uttered. "I wonder what all house-of-horrors stuff they keep around here. Fridge full of blood, check. What else? Torture chamber? Coffin room?"

I grinned in response at his sense of humor. I had to admit that he wasn't far off of what I had expected the first time I was on my way to this beautiful white mansion.

"Hey Bella," Jasper got my attention as he sat up on the bed. "I wish I could be here with you for this, but it's been a while since we've all hunted and between that and everyone else's blood lust, I don't think I will be able to stand it. So, I'm going to go somewhere else where I won't be able to smell it."

I nodded sympathetically at him, feeling rather horrible that me, a human, is drinking up the only blood supply that is anywhere near by without Sam's pack going after them – once again, because of me.

"Don't feel guilty, darlin'," Jasper tried to soothe me. "You need it more than we do right now and we don't drink human blood anyway."

I gave him a small smile and nodded as he leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of my head before flitting out of the room to who knows where. The second that he was out of the room, I began to feel anxious and, again, it only stunned me that these foreign feelings were shifting through me.

Edward, however, stayed, holding my hand. His face was torn up and it broke my heart to see him this way. He didn't seem to have the energy to keep up the hope that we've had since our conversation last night. We stared into each other's eyes, but not in a gooey way. It was like we were having a silent conversation telepathically. It was one of the things that I loved about our relationship; we were able to speak to each other without uttering a word.

Rosalie darted downstairs after a second, flying through the room like a sharp breeze, stirring up the burning smell. She stopped inside the kitchen and I heard the creak of a cupboard door.

"Not clear, Rosalie," Edward murmured. He rolled his eyes. I didn't understand what he meant by that and I gave him a look full of curiosity, but Edward just shook his head at me.

I turned my attention towards Jacob. "This was your idea?" I whispered, my voice rough as I strained to make it loud enough for him to hear. It was only after that that I realized that he could probably could hear me either way.

"Don't blame me for this one. Your vampire was just picking snide comments out of my head."

I smiled a little. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"Yeah, me either," he said.

He looked uncomfortable just standing there, but the vampires had shoved all furniture out of the way for the medical setup, however, I knew that it didn't bother them – sitting or standing didn't make much of a difference to them.

"Edward told me what you had to do. I'm sorry."

"S'Okay. It was probably only a matter of time till I snapped over something Sam wanted me to do." I could tell that he was lying, but I still appreciated it.

"And Seth?" I whispered.

"He's actually happy to help."

"I hate causing you trouble." I muttered dejectedly. He laughed once – more a bark than a laugh before I breathed a faint sigh. "I guess that's nothing new, is it?"

"No, not really." He stated and we paused for a moment.  
I looked up at him apologetically from under my lashed. "You don't have to stay and watch this." I said, barely mouthing the words.

"I don't really have anywhere else to go," he told me, obviously trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. "The wolf thing is a lot less appealing since Leah joined up."

"Leah?" I gasped.

"You didn't tell her?" He asked Edward, who just shrugged without moving his eyes from my face. It was clear that it wasn't very exciting news to him.

I didn't take it so lightly. I thought that she hated me. She hated the vampires, so why would she go to such lengths to protect us?

"Why?" I breathed.

He didn't seem to want to get into the whole explanation. "To keep an eye on Seth."

"But Leah hates us." I whispered, reminding him, but slightly afraid.

"Leah's not going to but anyone." He promised. "She's in my pack" – he grimaced at the word – "so she follows my lead."

He seemed like he was not saying something or leaving something out on purpose and I wasn't at all convinced. "You're scared of Leah, but your best buds with the psychopath blonde and attached to the hip with a vampire that is nicknamed 'the God of War'."

There was a low hiss from the second floor that echoed throughout the house. Rose had obviously heard Jake.

I frowned at him. "Don't. Rose… understands. And Jasper… well, that's a long story."

"Yeah," he grunted. "She understands that you're gonna die and she doesn't care, s'long as she gets her mutant spawn out of the deal." Jasper growled at this from somewhere in the house. Even Edward narrowed his eyes at him, though Jake didn't seem to pick this up.

"Stop being a jerk, Jacob," I whispered. To be honest, I was too weak to get mad at him.

He tried to smile instead. "You say that like it's possible."

I tried not to smile back for a second, but I couldn't help it in the end; my chalky lips pulled up at the corners. And then Carlisle and Rose were here. Carlisle had a white plastic cup in his hand – the kind with a lid and a bendy straw.

Oh – not clear; now I get it.

Edward didn't want me to have to think about what I was doing any more than necessary. You couldn't see what was in the cup at all, but I could faintly smell it from where I was laying on the bed.

Carlisle hesitated, the hand with the cup half-extended. I eyed it, feeling scared again.

"We could try another method," Carlisle said quietly.

"No," I whispered. "No, I'll try this first. We don't have time…" My hand fluttered feebly against my stomach before I reached out and took the cup from him. My hand shook a little and I could hear the sloshing inside. I tried to prop myself up on one elbow, but I could barely lift my head.

Rosalie put her arm under my shoulders, supporting my head too, like you did with a newborn.

"Thanks," I whispered. My eyes flickered around the room feeling self-conscious. If I wasn't so drained, I had no doubt that I would have been blushing.

"Don't mind them," Rosalie murmured.

I lifted the cup to my face and sniffed at the end of the straw. I flinched in surprise and made a face.

"Bella, sweetheart, we can find an easier way," Edward said, holding his hand out for the cup.

"Plug your nose," Rosalie suggested. She glared at Edward's hand like she might take a snap at it.

"No, that's not it. It's just that it -" I sucked in a deep breath. "It smells good." I admitted in a tiny voice. I couldn't describe what it smelled like, but whatever it was, it appealed to me in all sorts of ways.

I noticed Jacob out of the corner of my eye swallowing hard, fighting to keep the disgust off of his face.

"That's a good thing," Rosalie told me eagerly. "That means we're on the right track. Give it a try."

I shoved the straw between my lips, squeezing my eyes shut and wrinkled my nose. I didn't want to think about what I was drinking or I wouldn't be able to do it no matter how good it smelled. I could hear the blood slopping around in the cup again as my hand shook. I sipped at it for a second, and then moaned quietly with my eyes still closed.

It tasted…good! Surprisingly good!

I heard two people step forward at the same time. I felt a familiar cold hand touch my face and I knew that it was Edward. He was obviously concerned about me since I hadn't given any indication on how I was doing.

"Bella, love -"

"I'm okay," I whispered before opening my eyes and staring up at him. I gave him an apologetic expression for scaring him, though underneath it all, I felt like I was almost pleading at him for something and was alarmed. "It tastes good, too." I admitted.

"That's good!" Rose repeated, still jazzed. "A good sign."

I guess it was a good sign, because I doubted that if I wasn't pregnant, then I probably wouldn't have been able to even be in the same room with this cut of red liquid without fainting or becoming over nauseous.

Edward pressed his hand to my cheek, curling his fingers around the shape of my face. I sighed and put my lips to the straw again, taking a real pull this time. The action didn't feel as week as everything else I did. It was like some instinct inside of me was taking over.

"How's your stomach? Do you feel nauseated?" Carlisle asked.

I shook my head. "No, I don't feel sick," I whispered. "There's a first, eh?"

Rosalie beamed her stunningly beautiful smile. "Excellent."

"I think it's a bit early for that, Rose," Carlisle murmured.

I gulled another mouthful of blood then flashed a look at Edward. "Does this screw my total?" I whispered. "Or do we start counting after I'm a vampire?"

"No one is counting, Bella. In any case, no one died for this." He smiled a small smile. "Your record is still clean." He turned his focus away from me toward Jacob. He then whispered something so low that I wasn't able to make out the words that he was saying. It was like the words were just a breath.

"What?" I whispered.

"Just talking to myself," he lied smoothly. I didn't feel like pressing the issue, though, after I was a vampire, he will not be getting away with so much when my senses were as sharp as his.

I chugged a few more ounces, staring past them all toward the window, trying to pretend that they weren't there. It wasn't like I felt bad enough drinking this blood when all of them were slowly starving, because Sam and his pack were watching the house, waiting to pick them off the second they were off of the property. It made me feel selfish and rotten.

I caught Edward rolling his eyes out of the corner of my vision, probably at something that someone was thinking before he suddenly chuckled once. My eyes flickered to him immediately and I couldn't help but to half-smile at the humor on his face. It was something that I hadn't seen much of since our honeymoon and aside from last night when he heard our daughter's thoughts, I hadn't seen it at all.

"Something funny?" I breathed.

"Jacob," he answered.

I looked over with another weary smile at him. "Jake's a crack-up," I agreed.

"Bada bing," he mumbled in a weak rim-shot impression.

I smiled again and took another swig from the cup. He flinched when the straw pulled at empty air, making a loud sucking sound.

"I did it," I said extremely pleased with myself. I immediately noticed upon finishing the cup that my voice was clearer – rough, but not in a whisper for the first time today. "If I keep this down, Carlisle, will you take the needles out of me?"

"As soon as possible," he promised. "Honestly, they aren't doing that much good where they are."

Rosalie patted my forehead and we exchanged a hopeful glance. I really felt like the cup full of human blood had made an immediate difference. My color seemed to be returning – I noticed from the mirror on the wall that was not too far from the bed where I lay, that there was a tiny hint of pink in my cheeks. Already I didn't feel the need for Rosalie's support so much anymore. My breathing was easier, and I could swear that my heartbeat felt stronger, more even.

Everything felt accelerated.

The hope that had been in Edward's eyes since he left to go talk to Carlisle had turned into the real thing.

"Would you like more?" Rosalie pressed causing my shoulders to slump.

Edward flashed a glare at her before her turned and spoke to me. "You don't have to drink more right away."

"Yeah, I know. But… I want to," I admitted glumly.

Rosalie pulled her thin, sharp fingers through my lank hair. "You don't need to be embarrassed about that, Bella. Your body has cravings. We all understand that." He tone was soothing at first, but then she admitted harshly. "Anyone who doesn't understand shouldn't be here."

Meant for Jacob, obviously, but he clearly wasn't going to let Rose get to him. Carlisle took the cup from my hands. "I'll be right back."

I stared at Jacob as Carlisle disappeared. He looked almost a pale green color.

"Jake, you look awful," I croaked.

"Look who's talking." He uttered.

"Seriously – when's the last time you slept?" I asked as I eyed the purple bruising under his eyes. If I didn't know any better, I would swear he was a vampire with those qualities.

He seemed to think about it for a second. "Huh. I'm not actually sure."

"Aw, Jake. Now I'm messing with your health too. Don't be stupid." He gritted his teeth, but I ignored that action and continued to press on. "Get some rest, please? There's a few beds upstairs – you're welcome to any of them."

The look on Rosalie's face as I said this made it clear that he wasn't welcome to one of them. But it wasn't like she slept anyway.

"Thanks, Bells, but I'd rather sleep on the ground. Away from the stench, you know."

I grimaced as I remembered that they didn't exactly smell good to each other. "Right."

Jasper appeared then, peeking his head in the room. Amazement coated his features as he came in the rest of the way and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Wow, darlin'," He gushed studying me. "I can't believe the improvements already after one cup of blood. You look so much better."

I smiled up at him in embarrassment, taking on of his hands in mind with my free one and intertwined our fingers. "Thanks."

"Even your voice sounds stronger." He acknowledged. "If it keeps working like this, I'd say that we have one thing on our list yesterday down." He grinned down at me affectionately.

I nodded in agreement. "It's definitely made a difference to me too."

Carlisle was back then and I reached out for the blood, eyeing Jasper to see if he could handle this. He gave me a stiff nod and it was then that I noticed that he wasn't breathing. I figured that I'd better get this down again, not only for my sake, but for my nudger's sake as well as I began to gulp it down.

I really was feeling a lot better than I was. I pulled myself forward, being careful of the tubes and scooted into a sitting position. Rosalie and Jasper both hovered, their hands ready to catch me if I sagged. But I didn't need them. Taking deep breaths in between swallows, I finished the second cup quickly, not only for me and my baby's sake, but for all of the vampire's sakes too. I didn't want to torture them.

"How do you feel now?" Carlisle asked.

"Not sick. Sort of hungry… only I'm not sure if I'm hungry or thirst, you know?" I answered as I thought about it.

"Carlisle, just look at her," Rosalie murmured smugly. "This is obviously what her body wants. She should drink more."

Jasper sighed in exasperation. "She's still human, Rose. She needs food too."

Carlisle nodded in agreement. "Let's give her a little while to see how this affects her, and then maybe we can try some food again. Does anything sound particularly good to you, Bella?"

"Eggs," I said immediately and then exchanged a look and a smile with Edward as I remembered our honeymoon and how many cartons of eggs I had consumed in such a short about of time. His smile was brittle, but there was more life on his face than before.

I looked over and noticed that Jake was sleeping where he stood, fighting to re-open his eyes. Edward noticed this too as I elbowed Jasper, nodding in Jakes direction in amusement and concern.

"Jacob," Edward murmured. "You really should sleep. As Bella said, you're certainly welcome to the accommodations here, though you'd probably be more comfortable outside. Don't worry about anything – I promise I'll find you if there's a need."

"Sure, sure," he mumbled.

He must have been thinking something about Edward, because Edward suddenly was agreeing with him about something.

He nodded and then put his hand on mine, reaching over Jasper's. His hand was like putting a heating pad on top of my skin without the fabric covering.

"Feel better," he said.

"Thanks Jacob," I turned my hand over and squeezed his.

"Get her a blanket or something," he muttered as he turned for the door.

Not two seconds later, there were two howls piercing the still morning air. There was no mistaking the urgency of the tone.

"Damnit," Jake snarled and threw himself through the door toward the sound of the howls.

**A/N: So, what did everyone think of the chapter?! They discovered the way to make Bella feel better! But now, because of Sam's pack, the Cullen's are all starving because they can't hunt and are being taunted by the smell of the human blood that Bella is being fed. What do you think that the howling is about? Review!**


	10. What the Hell

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note! We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews! – Bella'Xo**

**Chapter 10**

**(Alice's POV)**

_Takes place during the Last Chapter…_

Have you stared into a void? Maybe a swirling vortex of nothingness, maybe? The only reason you can recall to do so is simply to delve into your own psyche for a while? Have you ever wanted to do something so bad, but you knew you weren't supposed to? How about, in the end, you basically said 'what the hell?' and did it anyway?

Well, welcome to my twisted world.

I sit in solitude, looking out the window, facing towards the front porch. Leah sat there, cursing as she tried to clean off her mud covered shoes. Her work of simply wiping it off with her handwas failing immensely.

I watched her for a few more minutes, my eyebrows moving closer together with every passing moment. Finally, you know what I said? 'What the hell'? Precisely…

I was at the door, opening it, in the next second. I stepped out onto the porch and she stiffened. She was tense as she went back to her work acting as though I wasn't there. I reached over, picking up one of the boy's t-shirt they had left on the porch. It was not like they needed it anyway.

I walked over to her, reaching a hand downward, fingers stretched. She stared at my hand like it was the most offensive thing that she'd ever seen. I lifted an eyebrow. Eventually, I sighed, shifting to one leg before grabbing the shoe for myself. Her eyes flashed to mine in anger. I glanced at her, continuing to wipe off the grime.

I felt her eyes on me so I looked at her. "Problem?" I asked.

Her eyes tightened. "I believe you took my shoe, bloodsucker."

I hid the wince at that, and I could tell she was just as disturbed by that as I was. I smirked. "I did. And I'm cleaning it, just as you were trying to do." She lifted an eyebrow. "Only I'm succeeding."

Her lips twitched, and a growl rumbled through her chest. "I don't remember giving you permission."

"Oh, you didn't. But I was tired of watching you."

Her hands landed on her hips, and she shifted her weight. "Becoming a stalker, now? I can't say I'm surprised."

I stared at her seemingly unaffected. "Yeah, yeah. Now, give me the other shoe."

She looked on at me incredulously. I sighed, dropping the now clean shoe to the porch. "You might as well hand it over. That or I can take it off of you myself."

"Or you can give me the shirt, and I can do it myself," she countered.

I blinked. She groaned in defeat, bending over to pull of the shoe. She lifted up, giving me the object. I shook my head, taking a seat on the top step. I cleaned the white faux leather, waiting for her to sit down.

When she still had not sat by the time I was finished, my hands plopped onto my lap. I chunked the shoe down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, moving past me. She looked up at me. "What the-"

"I didn't want you staring down my neck anymore. I could feel your eyes."

She took a few steps closer so she was two steps below mine, looking down on me. "What if my fist touched your face? Hmm?"

My eyes fell closed, and I breathed deeply. Her foot contacted my shin, and I was standing before her immediately. Eyes to eyes.

"Alright! Enough! We cannot keep doing this," I stated. "You've been ignoring me, I try to make some sort of interaction and you just become a bitch. Is that how you want this entire thing to go?"

"Well, if you mean by me continuing to ignore you and acting like this when we talk? Then, yes, I'd be perfectly fine with that," she replied.

I rolled my eyes. "You do know it's going to happen eventually."

"And what makes you so sure, bloodsucker? I haven't exactly wanted any of this," she said.

"I haven't either." My eyes pierced hers, and she seemed to back off a little. "I've seen it. Us.Together. Happy. It's gonna be hard to fight on my side whenever I can see it."

"Stop looking," she stated.

I shook my head, looking at her like she was stupid. "I can't. My powers don't work that."

"Make them," she commanded. "You don't need to see it, and I don't want to know about it." She turned, hopping off the step. She began to walk away, but I followed her.

"You're not curious? Not even a little. After all, two enemies falling in love. It's almost poetic. I mean, really, have you ever wondered about how things get when two enemies go at it?" She stopped, and my lips curled as I stared at her back. "Explosive, maybe. Cosmic. You never know until you try, and I'm willing to."

Her shoulder began to turn towards me, but it was as if she was working against an unknown force as she wrenched it back forward. "No. I don't believe I've ever thought of anything like that." She turned her head, casting a solid glance at me with one brown eye. "It's rather disgusting, honestly. But, hey, if you like that type of thing, just go get a human. Show them how a vampire should really act. Become their enemy. I bet you could really rock their world." She smirked and turned back, taking another step.

"I just might. Think of it. Me, a guy. Hell, maybe a girl..." She stopped, her shoulders tense. "All attractive..."

She had me by the throat in the next second, growling into my face. "You little...little..." I lifted my eyebrows. "You have no power over me, you know that. This is not going to be a little fest between the two of us, sucker. I'm better than you, and I always have been. It wouldn't work even if you were human. I'm not into girls anyway. So, have fun with your human of choice, but if you drain them, you're mine to deal with. And trust me, you don't want me on your case after something like that." Her hand tightened, and I felt as though I was experiencing the true act of being choked.

"I'd love you on my case. That means you'd have to be close. It's fate, Leah, we can't fight it forever," I breathed loosely, brokenly.

Her lips curled back, flashing her teeth, and she dropped me. I shifted on my feet, catching myself as they hit the ground. "When I start aging again, we're done, completely. This imprint is not going to rule me."

"You're never going to age again," I stated.

She breathed deeply, harshly. "You've seen that, too?"

I did not reply, and she nodded her head, glancing away. She lifted a solid finger at me. "Well, let me tell you something, I will not-" Her words were cut off by a sharp howl in the distance. I looked past her as she glanced back. She turned back to me. "We're not finished." She took off into the trees.

"I was hoping we wouldn't be. Soon..."

**._.-:'~Instinctual Reactions~':-._.**

**(Leah's POV)**

I took off into the trees, not even daring to change into my other form now. For once, I wanted every single thought at this moment a secret, my own property. This was none of their business.

I followed the echo of the howl, knowing that it was definitely Seth's. Before long, the sound faded away, but I had already caught the trail. As I grew deeper into the forests, new sounds drew my attention, leading the way precisely. I came to a line of trees, and the noise was monstrous. I broke the trees to see all of the wolves; new, young, leader, non-leader, one pack, another pack.

"This is not up for negotiation, Sam, and you know it!" Jacob yelled.

"It's dangerous!" Seth reputed. "Do you wish to see people die? 'Cause if you do, it's blood on your hands, Jacob!"

"No one is going to die! That is a moot point now. I can tell that the child will not be a danger to anyone, but Bella. The Cullen's would never let that happen."

Oh, this again. I stood at the back, watching the interactions, keeping my mouth shut. Seth saw me and moved closer, standing behind Jacob.

"What's your proof? Huh? It's in the womb. It's not exactly intelligent enough to make the proper decisions to be considered 'safe.' The chances are running against all of us," Paul entered. "We cannot watch as this thing is born and begins taking out innocent people." The boys around him crowed in agreement. I raised an eyebrow, staring hard around the circle of men.

"I say we get rid of the Cullen's, as well. Plenty of less vampires to worry about," Colin said. Again, the boys agreed with whole hearts.

Can't say I disagreed with the kid, but that was not the answer to this entire problem.

"What if we just get rid of the problem entirely?" Brady asked. "Let the 'good' ones live, and get rid of Edward, Bella, and the little bloodsucker. Problem solved."

Jacob growled at him viciously. "No one is touching them!"

"And who's going to stop us? You and your pathetic little pack? Please," Sam huffed.

Jacob stared venomously. I lifted a finger to my lips, wrapping my other arm under my chest to support that one as I watched on. My head tilted slightly.

"It's pack to pack, Sam. Mine's small, but experienced. What have you got? New mutts," Jacob sneered.

Sam moved forward, but Paul grabbed his arm to stop him. Sam pulled back as Paul told him to chill down. I smirked at this. The Alpha loses his cool. That's a first.

"The thing should die. It's not of nature. Hell, it shouldn't have even been created. I mean, we can't predict how things are going to go with this little monster. Why should we risk lives when we can dismiss all of this in one quick swoop?" Quil amended.

Jacob seemed shocked at his entrance in all of this, but his anger for his words overruled that. "And what about that crush you had on Bella, huh? All of you do understand that if we go after this thing, Bella's dead, too, right?"

"She'll be dead soon anyway!" Paul quipped.

Quil reflected then, but it did not seem to be his focus at the moment. Sam, however, looked as though he could care less. "One thousand chumps one, Jacob."

"No, it doesn't. Not when one chumps one hundred years of being alone," Jacob replied, referring to Edward. "We cannot kill him, too, which means we'd consequently kill all of them with grief. If we did that, if anyone did that," Jake paused, "it makes all of us monsters."

Suddenly, everything grew silent. They all stood like statues, looking amongst one another, communicating with only eyes. Jacob stared hard at Sam, seeming to implant his words into his head like permanent ink.

"We are not the monster, Jacob," Sam amended. "But, if you wish to side with them, then all of you are the monsters." His eyes connected with Seth's piercingly. Now, that, I could not handle. I stepped in front of him, squaring straight. I glared in return, Seth shifting behind me. I knew the words hit home for him. He liked the Cullen's, and he knew they were not monsters. I may not agree wholly on that fact, but my brother likes them, and that's good enough for me.

"You say we are the bad ones, Sam, yet here you are, marking words into one below you. The truth is, he is so above you, that you should be able to look up at him. In fact, Seth is the reasonable one, in case you haven't noticed. He hasn't declared war, death," I looked at Sam, "and he hasn't been working his life away protecting anyone," I looked at Jacob. "He has stood for what he believes in and helped everyone. The Cullen's included. To him, it doesn't matter if they are vampires, they deserve as much help as they can get. And I can't say I disagree withhim. I follow my brother on this. He's the most level-headed right now, and none of you are thinking clearly during all of this."

"And what makes you so mighty? You and your leech girlfriend?" Brady threw back.

I wanted to strangle the boy, but Seth stopped me with a hand on my wrist. "Don't bring Alice into this. She's not the problem and neither is Bella. These arguments are getting old."

Jacob nodded in front of me, apparently agreeing with my statement. "She makes a good point. All of you need to stay on your own turf and leave us alone on ours."

**(Jacob's POV)**

"This used to be your turf, too, Jake," Quil said. "We want you to come back."

"You've torn our family apart. It's not meant to be this way." Jared said as Embry let out a soft whine behind him.

"I don't know if it's that easy, guys," I sighed as things began to calm down a bit, though I knew that it wouldn't be for long. This was just another one of their tactics to try to get their way.

"Come home," he said, leaning forward. Pleading. "We can sort this out. You don't belong here. Let Seth and Leah come home, too."

I laughed. "Right. Like I haven't been begging them to do that from hour one." Seth snorted behind me, the only one of the three of us still in wolf form.

Sam assessed that, his eyes cautious again. "So, what now, then?"

I thought that over for a minute while he waited. "I don't know. But I'm not sure things could just go back to normal anyway. I don't know how it works – it doesn't feel like I can just turn this Alpha thing off and on as the mood strikes. It feels sort of permanent."

"You still belong with us." Quil pressed.

I raised my eyebrows. "Two Alphas can't belong in the same place, Jared. Remember how close it got last night? The instinct is too competitive."

Sam sighed dejectedly, knowing I was right.

"So are you all just going to hang out with the parasites for the rest of your lives?" Paul demanded. "You don't have a home here. You're already out of clothes," he pointed out. "You gonna stay wolf all the time? You know Leah doesn't like eating that way."

"Leah can do whatever she wants when she gets hungry. She's here by her own choice. I'm not telling anyone what to do."

Sam sighed once again. "I'm sorry about what I did to you."

I nodded. "I'm not angry anymore."

"But?"

"But I'm not coming back, not now. We're going to wait and see how it plays out. And we're going to watch out for the Cullen's for as long as that seems necessary. Because, despite what you think, this isn't just about Bella. We're protecting those who should be protected. And that applies to the Cullen's too." At least a fair number of them, anyway.

Seth yelped softly in agreement.

Sam frowned unhappily. "I guess there's nothing I can say to you, then."

"Not now. We'll see how things go."

Jared turned to face Seth, concentrating on him now, separate from me. "Sue asked me to tell you – no, to beg you – to come home. She's brokenhearted, Seth. All alone. I don't know how you and Leah can do this to her. Abandon her this way, when your dad just barely died -"

Seth whimpered.

"Ease up, Jared," I warned.

"Just letting him know how it is."

I snorted. "Right." Sue was tougher than anyone I knew. Tougher than my dad, tougher than me.Tough enough to play on her kids' sympathies if that's what it took to get them home. But it wasn't fair to work Seth that way. "Sue's known about this for how many hours now? And most of that time spent with Billy and Old Quil and Sam? Yeah, I'm sure she's just perishing of loneliness. 'Course you're free to go if you want, Seth. You know that."

Seth sniffed.

If was quiet for a minute before Sam turned to Leah. "Leah?" he asked. She met his gaze, her lips turning up into a sneer. Sam didn't seem surprised by her hostility. "Leah, you know you don't want to be here. You don't want anything to do with your imprint on that leech."

She didn't say anything to him, only snarled under her breath. I gave her a warning glance she didn't see. Seth whined and nudged her with his shoulder.

"Sorry," Sam said. "Guess I shouldn't assume. But you don't want any ties to the bloodsuckers."

"I'm here for my brother," she answered in somewhat of a monotone as she looked at her brother and then at me.

"So, you want to watch out for Seth, we get that," Quil said while Sam's eyes touched my face and then went back to hers. Probably wondering what that second look was about – just like I was.

"Jake's not going to let anything happen to him, and he's not afraid to be here." Jared made a face. "Anyway, please, Leah. We want you back."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Leah. I want you back." Leah twitched. "I'm begging you. I will literally get down on my knees if I have to. I want you home, Lee-lee, where you belong."

I saw Leah flinch when Sam used his old nickname for her. And then, when he added those last three words, her hackles seemed to rise on her skin and she began to shake as a long stream of snarls echoed between her teeth.

"Why you little…" She phased right out of her clothes and she was yowling a long stream of snarls through her teeth. I didn't have to be in her head to hear the cussing-out she was giving him, and neither did he. You could almost hear the exact words she was using.

I waited till she was tone. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Leah belongs wherever she wants to be." Leah growled, but, as she was glaring at Sam, I figured it was in agreement. "Look, Sam, we're still family, okay? We'll get past this feud, but, until we do, you all ought to stick to your land. Just so there aren't misunderstandings. Nobody wants a family brawl, right?"

"Of course, not," Sam snapped. "We'll stick to our land… for now." I didn't like that 'for now'. It gave me the feeling that it would only be a temporary solution.

"But where's your land, Jacob? Is it vampire land?" Paul sneered.

"No, Paul. Homeless at the moment. But don't worry – this isn't going to last forever." I had to take a breath. "There's not that much time… left. Okay? Then the Cullen's will probably go, and Seth and Leah will come home."

Seth and Leah whined together, their noses turning in my direction in synchronization.

"And what about you, Jake?" Quil asked.

"Back to the forest, I think. I can't really stick around La Push. Two Alphas means too much tension. 'Sides, I was headed that way anyway. Before this mess."

"What if we need to talk?" Jared asked.

"Howl – but watch the line, 'kay? We'll come to you. But you all don't need to come. We aren't looking for a fight."

**(Leah's POV)**

Sam scowled, not liking Jake setting conditions for him as the hostility rose back up into the air around us. "You might not be looking for a fight, but you're gonna get one whether you like it or not at some point and whether you're on our side or theirs will determine your fate."

Taking a step back as Sam flicked a hand backwards, showing that they were finished. For now, at least.

"You used to always be on our side," Quil said absentmindedly in disappointment. "Just as this used to be your home."

Jake shook his head once. "Not anymore, not when you're wrong."

"You've betrayed us, Jacob!" Brady called back as he left.

"Proud to," Jacob said confidently.

"We'll be back, Jacob," Sam stated as the rest of them disappeared.

"And we'll be on alert."

Sam turned, and we listened as their footsteps faded away.

"What now, Jake?" Seth said.

"We go back to the house, and be prepared. We will stay at the house for the next few days. We need to be on guard and as close to the Cullen mansion as possible for a little while. Then, we can integrate back into patrols. Even so, the baby could come at any moment this week, or so I think, and we need to be careful that when it does come, we are already prepared to fight. Oncewords gets out, there's probably no stopping Sam, and I don't want to risk their safety, especially Bella's." We nodded in agreement as he glanced between us. "Come on. We should go back. I'm done with idiots for the day. Let's go do what we do best. Protect people."

Jake and Seth took off, with me close behind. The house was in few in very short minutes. We took our places, the boys at the bottom of the stairs with me on the porch, looking over them. Jake and Seth stood back to back, watching. This would get boring after long, but it was better to be guards and protect than to be the monsters worth fighting.

You know what they always say: "If it's worth fighting for, it's worth keeping." And I guessthese vamps are, as much as I hate to say it.

Maybe I was the monster for going against my people, but I would redeem myself by protecting the better. And that's exactly what I intended to do.

**"The weaker you are, the louder you bark." ~Masachi Kishimoto**

Funny, everything was dead silent.

**Hope everyone liked it! Please, review, favorite, and alert! I'd love to hear your thoughts :)**

**~Much Love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX**


	11. Can't Have One Without the Other

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

**Instinctual Reactions**

**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note! We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews! – Bella'Xo**

* * *

**Chapter 11  
****(Jacob's POV)**

When I got back to the house, there was no one waiting outside for my report. Still on alert?

_'Everything's cool,'_ I thought tiredly.

My eyes quickly caught a small change in the now-familiar scene. There was a stack of light-colored fabric on the bottom step of the porch. I loped over to investigate. Holding my breath, because the vampire smell stuck to the fabric like you wouldn't believe, I nudged the stack with my nose.

Someone had laid out clothes. _Huh. _

Edward must have caught my moment of irritation as I bolted out the door. _Well. That was... nice. And weird._

I took the clothes gingerly between my teeth – ugh – and carried them back to the trees. Just in case this was some joke by the blond psychopath and I had a bunch of girls' stuff here. Bet she'd love to see the look on my human face a I stood there naked, holding a sundress.

In the cover of the trees, I dropped the stinking pile and shifted back to human. I shook the clothes out, snapping them against a tree to beat the smell from them. They were definitely guy's clothes – tan pants and a white button-down shirt. Neither of them long enough, but they looked like they'd fit around me. Must be Emmett's. I rolled the cuffs up on the shirtsleeves, but there wasn't much I could do about the pants. _Oh well. _

I had to admit, I felt better with some clothes to my name, even stinky ones that didn't quite fit. It was hard not being able to just jet back home and grab another pair of old sweatpants when I needed them. The homeless thing again – not having anyplace to go back to. No possessions, either, which wasn't bothering me too bad now, but would probably get annoying soon.

Exhausted, I walked slowly up the Cullen's porch steps in my fancy new secondhand clothes, but hesitated when I got to the door. Did I knock? Stupid, when they knew I was here. I wondered why no one acknowledged that – told me either to come in or get lost.

_Whatever,_ I shrugged and let myself in.

More changes. The room had shifted back to normal – almost – in the last twenty minutes. The big flat-screen was on, low volume, showing some chick flick that no one seemed to be watching. Carlisle and Esme stood by the back windows, which were open to the river again. Alice and Emmett were out of sight, but I heard them murmuring upstairs. Bella was on the couch like yesterday, with just one tube still hooked into her, and an IV hanging behind the back of the sofa. She was wrapped up like a burrito in a couple of thick quilts, so at least they'd listened to me before.

Rosalie was cross-legged on the ground by her head while Jasper sat on the couch by her head, running his fingers through her hair. Edward sat at the other end of the couch with Bella's burrito'ed feet in his lap. He looked up when I came in and smiled at me – just a little twitch of his mouth – like something pleased him.

Bella didn't hear me. She only glanced up when he did, and then she smiled slightly too. It wasn't until Jasper brushed a strand of hair out of her face that her face really lit up. With real energy, her whole face lit up. I couldn't remember the last time she had that kind of smile for someone other than Edward.

What was with her? For crying out loud, she was married! Happily married, too – there was no question that she was in love with her vampire past the boundaries of sanity. And hugely pregnant, to top it off.

Edward seemed to be in agreement with my thoughts – we were on the same wavelength so much lately it was crazy. He was frowning now, reading her face while she beamed at him.

"They just wanted to talk," I mumbled, my voice dragging with exhaustion. "No attack on the horizon."

"Yes," Edward answered. "I heard most of it."

That woke me up a little. We'd been a good three miles out. "How?"

"I'm hearing you more clearly – it's a matter of familiarity and concentration. Also, your thoughts are slightly easier to pick up when you're in your human form. So I caught most of what passed out there." He gave me a look that suggested that he had also heard what had transpired about Leah and her imprinting on Alice. He nodded once in silent confirmation when I thought that.

"Oh," It bugged me a little, but for no good reason. So, I shrugged it off. "Good. I hate repeating myself." I grumbled. _'Don't say anything, let them deal with it on their own.'_ I warned him and he nodded again to confirm that he heard me.

"I'd tell you to go get some sleep," Bella said, "but my guess is that you're going to pass out on the floor in about six seconds, so there's probably no point."

It was amazing how much better she sounded, how much stronger she looked. I smelled fresh blood and saw that the cup was in her hands again.

_How much blood would it take to keep her going? At some point, would they start trotting in the neighbors?_

I headed for the door, counting off the seconds for her as I walked. "One Mississippi... two Mississippi..."

"Where's the flood, mutt?" Rosalie muttered.

"You know how you drown a blonde, Rosalie?" I asked without stopping or turning to look at her. "Glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool."

I heard Edward chuckle while Jasper snorted in amusement as I pulled the door shut. His mood seemed to improve in exact correlation to Bella's health.

"I've already heard that one," Rosalie called after me.

I trudged down the steps, my only goal to drag myself far enough into the trees that the air would be pure again. I planned to ditch the clothes a convenient distance from the house for future use rather than tying them to my leg, so I wouldn't be smelling them, either. As I fumbled with the buttons on the new shirt, I thought randomly about how buttons would never be in style for werewolves.

I heard the voices while I slogged across the lawn.

"Where are you going?" Bella asked.

"There was something I forgot to say to him." Edward replied.

"Let Jacob sleep – it can wait." Jasper insisted.

_'Yes, please, let Jacob sleep.'_ I thought to myself.

"It will only take a moment."

I turned slowly. Edward was already out the door. He had an apology in his expression as he approached me.

"Jeez, what now?"

"I'm sorry," he said, and then he hesitated, like he didn't know how to phrase what he was thinking.

_'What's on your mind, mind-reader?'_

"When you were speaking to Sam and his delegates earlier," he murmured. "I was giving a play-by-play for Carlisle and Esme and the rest – don't worry, I didn't say anything about...you know – But, they were concerned -"

"Look, we're not dropping our guard or -"

"No, no, Jacob. Not about that. We trust your judgment and know that you wouldn't suddenly decide to side with them. Rather, Esme, was troubled by the hardships this is putting your pack through. She asked me to speak to you privately about it."

That took me off guard. "Hardships?"

"The homeless part, particularly. She's very upset that you are all so... bereft."

I snorted. _Vampire mother hen – bizarre._

"We're tough. Tell her not to worry."

"She'd still like to do what she can. I got the impression that Leah prefers not to eat in her wolf form?"

"And?" I demanded.

"Well, we do have normal human food here, Jacob. Keeping up appearances, and, of course, for Bella. Leah is welcome to anything she'd like. All of you are."

"I'll pass that along."

"Leah hates us." He said stating the obvious.

I quirked a brow. "So?"

"So, try to pass it along in such a sway as to make her consider it, if you don't mind."

I sighed. "I'll do what I can."

"And then there's the matter of clothes." He said as he gestured to my attire.

I glanced down at the ones I was wearing. "Oh yeah. Thanks." It probably wouldn't be good manners to mention how bad they reeked.

He smiled, just a little. "Well, we're easily able to help out with any needs there. Alice rarely allows us to wear the same thing twice. We've got piles of brand-new clothes that are destined for Goodwill, and I'd imagine that Leah is fairly close to Esme's size..."

"Not sure how she'll feel about bloodsucker castoffs. She's not as practical as I am." I murmured.

"I trust that you can present the offer in the best possible light. As well as offer for any other physical object you might need, or transportation, or anything else at all. And showers, too, since you prefer to sleep outdoors. Please... don't consider yourselves without the benefits of a home." He said the last line softly – not trying to keep quiet this time, but with some kind of real emotion.

I stared at him for a second, blinking sleepily. "That's, er, nice of you. Tell Esme we appreciate the, uh, thought. But the perimeter cuts through the river in a few places, so we stay pretty clean, thanks."

"If you would pass the offer on regardless..."

"Sure, sure." I waved him off.

"Thank you."

I turned away from him, only to stop cold when I heard the low, pained cry from inside the house. By the time I looked back, he was already gone.

_What now?_

I followed after him, shuffling like a zombie. Using about the same number of brain cells, too. It didn't feel like I had a choice. Something was wrong I would go see what it was. There would be nothing I could do. And I would feel worse. It seemed inevitable.

I let myself in again.

Bella was panting, curled over the bulge in the center of her body. Jasper held her while Edward, Carlisle, Rosalie and Esme all hovered. A flicker of motion caught my eye; Alice was at the top of the stairs, staring down into the room with her hands pressed to her temples. It was weird – like she was barred from entering somehow.

**(Jasper's POV)**

"Bella," Carlisle said anxiously, "I heard something crack. I need to take a look."

"Pretty sure" - pant - "it was a rib. Ow. Yep. Right here." She pointed to her left side, careful not to touch.

I sent her soothing emotions as I tried to take as much of the pain away as I could.

"I need to take an X-ray. There might be splinters. We don't want it to puncture anything."

Bella took a deep breath. "Okay."

I managed to shift her slightly to carefully hand her off - rather reluctantly - to Rosalie, who was the closest to me as I sat with her in my arms on the couch. Edward seemed like he was going to argue, but Rosalie bared her teeth at him and growled, "I've already got her."

So, Bella was stronger now, but the baby was, too. You couldn't starve one without starving the other, and healing worked just the same. I didn't want anything to happen to Bella, be the same went for the baby that she was carrying, who I already felt an emotional bond to. There was no way to win.

Rosalie carried Bella swiftly up the big staircase with Carlisle and Edward right on her heels, none of them taking any notice of Jacob, who stood dumbstruck in the doorway.

"They have a blood bank and an X-ray machine? What, did the doc bring his work home with him?" He mumbled, clearly too tired to follow them and too tired to move. I watched him lean back against the wall and then slid to the ground. The door was still open, and he pointed his nose towards it, obviously searching for clean air from our scent that seemed to be bothering him.

I could hear the sound of the X-ray machinery upstairs and then the lightest of footsteps came down the stairs. I knew immediately that it was Alice after the many centuries that we had spent married.

"Do you want a pillow?" She asked Jacob.

"No," he mumbled.

"That doesn't look comfortable." I observed.

"S'not."

"Why don't you move, then?"

"Tired. Why aren't you two upstairs with the rest of them?" He shot back, but I chose not to answer. I was trying to get a brief break from the emotional atmosphere that surrounded the hectic bodies as the crowded around Bella. It was making me almost dizzy, but I didn't want to wander too far away in case Bella needed me.

"Headache," Alice answered as she sat on the steps, hunched in on herself, her small face pinched.

"Vampires get headaches?" He asked.

"Not the normal ones," I mocked teasingly, only for her to turn and stick out her pointy little tongue at me as I grinned back at her.

Jacob snorted at this, shaking his head before changing the subject. "So, how come you're never with Bella anymore?" He asked, making the question sound more like an accusation. "I thought you two were like this." He twisted two of his fingers together.

"Like I said" - she curled up on the tile a few feet from him, wrapping her skinny arms around her skinny knees - "headache."

"Bella's giving you a headache?" He quirked a brow.

"Yes." She answered and he frowned, letting his head roll back around toward the fresh air.

"Not Bella, really," I amended for her. "The baby."

"I can't see it," she told him, though she might have been talking to herself. "I can't see anything about it. Just like you."

He flinched and his emotions turned to anger and annoyance, obviously not liking the comparison.

"Bella gets in the way. She's all wrapped around it, so she's... blurry. Like a bad reception on a TV – like trying to focus your eyes on those fuzzy people jerking around on the screen. It's killing my head to watch her. And I can't see more than a few minutes ahead, anyway. The... fetus is too much a part of her future."

I didn't like hearing her refer to the baby that way, but I knew that she was against Bella risking her life to have the child, just as Edward was. Luckily, they seemed to be coming around, somewhat.

"When she first decided... when she knew she wanted it, she blurred right out of my sight. Scared me to death." She was quiet for a second, and then she added, "I have to admit, it's a relief having you close by – in spit e of the wet-dog smell. Everything goes away. Like having my eyes closed. It numbs the headache."

"Happy to be of service, ma'am," he mumbled, mimicking a southern drawl, causing me to snort at the horrible impression.

"I wonder what it has in common with you... why you're the same that way." She pondered.

Suddenly, anger and fury coated his emotions, flashing from the inside of out him. He clenched his fists to hold off the tremors that briefly took over his body.

"I have nothing in common with that life-sucker," he said through his teeth.

I growled at him for both snapping at Alice that way and talking about the baby that way. "She meant that there's something there regarding why she can't see you! She didn't mean any harm, so knock it off!" I snapped.

He didn't answer, obviously too tired to put up much of a fight as lethargy took over him.

"You don't mind if I sit here by you, do you?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Guess not. Stinks anyway."

"Thanks," she said. "This is the best thing for it, I guess, since I can't take aspirin."

"Could you keep it down? Sleeping, here." He mumbled.

She and I exchanged a look and I could tell by his emotions that he was out in seconds.

* * *

**(Bella's POV)**

It wasn't until early the next morning that Jacob had begun woke up and joined the land of the living... or as close to the living as vampires are, anyway. The smell of breakfast food filled the house and probably woke him, not to mention, he was lying face first into a pillow that probably reeked of the 'sickly sweet scent of vampire' as the wolves like to put it. Not to mention, it was noisy as Seth laughed out loud as he chatted amongst us and the rest of the Cullen's. It made me feel good that he got along so well with my vampire family.

The sound of Jake's groaning drew our attention towards him as the morning light coming from the dull gray skies shined down on him as he stretched and groaned.

"About time," Rosalie mumbled from the floor in front of Jasper and I. "The chainsaw impersonation was getting a little tired."

I had to bite my lip to stifle the laughter as Jasper and I exchanged an amused glance at the two always bickering with each other.

Jake rolled over and wrenched himself into a sitting position, finally noticing the pillow and narrowing his eyes at it as if it had just bit him in the butt. He blinked taking in the room.

Things hadn't changed much since he had last fallen asleep, except now, I was sitting in the middle of the sofa, and the IV was FINALLY gone. My legs were thrown over Jasper's lap as his hand rested on my knees. Rosalie sat on the floor in front of me with a magazine. Edward was sitting up on the back of the couch above my head, reaching down to me and holding my hand. Alice was on the floor, too, like Rosalie. She didn't seem to be in as much pain anymore and I found out that she was using the wolves as her painkillers since the blocked her visions completely. I felt bad that I had been the cause of her discomfort, but I was glad that she found a way to soothe the pain.

Currently, she was using Seth, who was sitting on my other side, his arm slung carelessly over my shoulders with an overflowing plate of food on his lap. I had gotten chilly earlier with both Edward and Jasper on both sides of me, not to mention, Rosalie was on the floor directly in front of me. Edward had graciously given up his seat to the young wolf in order to help keep me warm since the blankets just weren't doing it.

"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth crowed.

Jake's attention flickered over to him and he gave him a look that clearly said _'What the Hell?"_

"He came to find you," Edward said while Jake got to his feet. "And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast."

Seth took in his expression and he hurried to explain. "Yeah, Jake – I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang!" - he turned to Edward - "man, you can cook!"

"Thank you," Edward murmured with a smile.

We watched as Jake inhaled slowly, trying to unclench his teeth. However, he couldn't seem to take his eye's off of Seth's arm.

"Bella got cold," Edward told him quietly.

Seth heard Edward's comment, looked at his face, and suddenly he needed both hands to eat with. He took his arm off of me and dug in, much to my annoyance at Jacob.

_That was a little bit mean, wasn't it?_

However, Jasper seemed to relax from his tense positioning, that I didn't notice until now. I shot him a look and he only smile sheepishly as Edward growled under his breath.

_Jeez, what was with the alpha male routine around here?_

Jake walked over to stand a few feet in front of the couch, still trying to get his bearing.

"Leah running patrol?" he asked Seth, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Yeah," he said as he chewed. Seth had also gotten new clothing from Esme, as well. They fit him better than Jacob's did over his overly large form. "She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours." He was proud of that, and it showed in his tone.

"Midnight? Wait a minute – what time is it now?"

"Bout dawn." He glanced toward the window, checking. He had slept through the rest of the day yesterday and the whole night. No one had the heart to wake him, since it had been so long since he'd slept.

"Crap. Sorry about that, Seth. Really. You shoulda kicked me awake."

"Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before you last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You not a machine, Jake. 'Sides, you didn't miss anything at all."

He glanced quickly at me as examined me. My color was finally back to normal; pale, but with the rose undertone that would spread and darken with my blush. Y lips were pink again. Even my hair looked better – shinier than before.

I saw him appraising me and gave him a grin.

"How's the rib?" He asked.

"Taped up nice and tight. I don't even feel it."

He rolled his eyes. I heard Edward growl under his breath. I guess my blow-it-off attitude bugged him as much as it seemed to be bugging Jake. Jasper reached up and smacked his arm in a silent way to tell him to knock it off as he narrowed his eyes at him in a chastising manner. I couldn't help but to send him my gratefulness and shoot him a smile.

Sure, Edward was accepting that the baby wasn't a demon like he had thought it was, but that didn't mean that he was okay with me hurting myself in order to have it. He was just worried about me and that I understood. I was just glad that he wasn't so hostile towards my little nudger like he was before.

"What's for breakfast?" Jake asked a little sarcastic. "O negative or AB positive?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, feeling much more like myself than this time yesterday. "Omelets," I said, but my eyes darted down to my cup that was wedged between mine and Jasper's legs. I felt rotten that I was tempting the vampires in this way when they couldn't hunt, especially since this was human blood, but they had insisted that it was OK and that they'd figure out a way to hunt. I felt the most sorry for Jasper since he not only had to deal with his own blood lust, but the blood lust of everyone else. I had tried to offer him some before, but he resisted, pushing it away and flying to the other end of the room. I should have known that he wouldn't want to risk drinking it, but still... I just felt so bad watching him suffer. Always sitting near me was torture enough, let alone the constant supply of blood in my cup. I told him that he didn't have to stay near me, that he could go, but he looked far more pained at that thought then staying near me.

"Go get some breakfast, Jacob," Jasper said.

"Yeah!" Seth agreed. "There's a bunch in the kitchen. You've got to be empty."

He examined the food on Seth's lap. There was half a cheese omelet and the last forth of a Frisbee-sized cinnamon roll. His stomach growled loudly, but he ignored it.

"What's Leah having for breakfast?" Alice asked Seth critically.

"Hey, I took food to her before I ate anything," he defended himself. "She said she'd rather eat roadkill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls..." He seemed at a loss for words.

"I'll go hunt with her, then." Jake decided, causing Seth to sigh as he turned to leave, however I noticed Carlisle hurrying after him in haste.

* * *

**A/N:**** Read, Review, Enjoy!**

**Hope everyone liked it! Please, leave a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

**~Much Love-Zoe-VSA-XOXOX**


	12. Getting Closer

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

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**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note! We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews! – Bella'Xo**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**(Carlisle's POV)**

I followed Jacob out the door, tracing his steps silently. The door fell closed behind us as we made it to the porch. Jacob's footfalls were sluggish, delirious almost, and I wanted to make him sit down, rest some more. Even so, he would not listen to me on that aspect, but I had important matters to work on. Time was running short, and while Bella was getting blood, my family was starving. Tensions were running high as it is, but adding thirst to back that among seven vampires...well, it was not going to make a pretty sight if we did not get something in our systems soon. Bella safety is running thin by the day, and we all need to be on full alert.

Jacob plunked down the steps, but I stopped him.

"Jacob?" I asked, and he froze, turning to me sluggishly.

He lifted his eyebrows at me, and I smiled slightly. "I have something I need to ask you, if you don't mind." I began in a somber tone.

"No problem, Doc. I've been of plenty of service lately, I don't know why you would think that would suddenly change," he murmured sarcastically, falling to the bottom step. "What can I do you for?"

I smirked at his wording, going down the stairs to sit beside him. "Actually, I am in need of a favor. Of course, that may come into play of servitude on your part," he chuckled, "but I would truly appreciate it."

"Oh, yeah? Do tell," he replied.

"Speaking of hunting, that's going to be an issue for my family. We all need to hunt," I stated, and he glanced at me, noticing the pitch black eyes that were planted on him. Though, he gave no signs of fear, he did squirm slightly in discomfort at the bold color. I knew that he had seen Edward's eyes this way, but they had never been near as impressive. I had gone without something to drink, but with stress and such affecting everyone, it was becoming almost housing to be so hungry. I was in full control, but precautions needed to be taken.

His eyes traced away a moment. "What's your plan, then? I mean, not that she would, but we don't know when Bella's going to pop the spawn, and I don't know nothing 'bout birthing no babies," he said, quoting _Gone with the Wind_ to a T.

"I was hoping you, Seth, and Leah could stay here while Esme, Alice, Emmett, and myself went hunting. We may need a day or so, but Edward, Jasper, and Rosalie can leave as soon as we step through the door." A tight-lipped growl escaped through the cracks of the door. Rosalie could not even accept that she needed to feed. She would rather starve than leave Bella's side now. I shook my head at that. "You won't have to be gone long. You're feeding, Bella will not be put in danger over your selfishness," I told her, speaking in tones only she would understand. I could just picture her lips curling with disdain. I meant no offense, but I was not putting up with this. There were more important matters at hand, and her dislike for anything by this point was mute. Invalid.

I ignored Rosalie and turned back to Jacob to see him nodding his consent. "We will. No offense, but I don't want any of you getting antsy around Bella right now. I could kill one of you if she were to get worse because you guys haven't gotten your fill. I'll be damned."

"We would not, Jacob, I would make sure of that." He glanced at me incredulously, and I can't say I blame him for doing so. "I understand that our previous truce is inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice on this. Will Sam be hunting for us outside the perimeter you've created? We don't want to chance with hurting any of your family – or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?"

He shrugged. "It's a risk. Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's no going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean. But with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to do much damage. I'd bet he's keeping it close to home." I nodded thoughtfully at his words. "But whatever, Doctor Blood. Get your fill, get back, and help Bella. However, I guess I'd say go out together, just in case. And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast – go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home. So, that's how this is going to work out. I've had my head in this from day one, despite my hatred for everything that's going on, but I am not going to stand by as you guys fall into your own pits of thirsting hell." He stared hard at me. "I respect you, Carlisle, a lot, but you're not as important as Bella."

I nodded shortly. "Agreed. And thank you, you are a good young man as well, Jacob."

He shivered, and my eyebrows pulled together because I was entirely positive he was not cold. "The compliments, they burn," he quipped, rolling his eyes. He sighed. "When are you guys leaving?"

I copied his action. "This evening, I hope. That's what I'm planning, anyway. But how will we leave with Bella being unprotected?"

He snorted. "What are we, chopped liver?"

I laughed, and then my face was serious again when I realized that he wasn't joking around. "Jacob, you can't fight against your brothers."

His eyes tightened. "I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but if they were really coming to kill her – I would be able to stop them."

I shook my head, anxious. "No, I didn't mean that you would be... incapable. But that it would be very wrong. I can't have that on my conscience."

"It wouldn't be on yours, Doc. It would be on mine. And I can take it."

"No, Jacob, We will make sure that our actions don't make that a necessity." I frowned thoughtfully. "We'll go three at a time," I decided after a second. "That's probably the best we can do."

"I don't know, Doc. Dividing down the middle isn't the best strategy."

"We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward is one of the three, he'll be able to give us a few miles' radius of safety."

We both glanced at Edward. His extression had me backtracking quickly.

"I'm sure there are other ways, too," I said. Clearly, there was no physical need strong enough to get Edward away from Bella now and I had a feeling that the same was for Jasper, who needed it more than any of us. "Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?"

"The ones that disappear," Alice said nodded. "Easy."

Edward, who had gone all tense with my first plan, loosened up. Bella was staring unhappily at Alice, that little crease between her eyes that she got when she was stressed out.

"OK, then." He said. "That's settled." He breathed. "I'll go get Leah. I don't know how Leah will feel about all of this, but Seth will be more than glad to come back later take care of Bella. Right?"

"Yup!" Seth chirped.

"I'll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?"

"Sure, Jake. I'll phase back soon as I'm done here to come talk with you and Leah."

I smiled, slowly placing a hand on Jacob's shoulder. He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. "Thank you for what you've done, Jacob, everything. It will take a long time to repay you." I dropped my hand.

He shrugged uncomfortably, not used to the attention, or attention at all, I suppose. "Well, you're welcome, Doc, I guess. I'll be back soon, just don't leave before I return. Also, I'd rather not have to do this twice and since you won't all go together, you might want to bring some back for the stragglers." He stood from where he was seated on the porch steps, walking to the tree line.

I stood, as well, calling after him, "Alright, we won't leave until you're back."

He disappeared into the dense forest, and I went back inside. The door click behind me, and I went around to those who I planned to go out tonight. Everyone began to get ready. The tension was palpable, and I had the strangest feeling that this was the calm before the storm. This was no ordinary day. I shook the feeling off, however. Time was getting thinner, but the moments accumulating were not, and I could not pass them off so harshly or rapidly. Let the end begin, though I do not know where it starts, or if it may already have.

**(Jacob's POV)**

I entered into the trees, jogging as I went deeper. I got to the edge of the perimeter, and waited a few short moments before Leah broke through the trees. I looked up from my short-lived seat on top of a fallen tree as she disappeared behind the trees to change back into her human form. Seth arrived first before she could finish, having finished his breakfast at the hous..

"What's the plan, Jake?" he asked, happy as ever.

I breathed in, and Leah came out from behind the tree, leaving against it, keeping her distance. I rolled my eyes at her. "The Cullen's need to go hunting. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Alice will be the first group to go, but they're going to bring back something for the rest of them so that they don't have to worry about risking their lives to go again. The Doc asked us to come and stay with Bella while they're gone tonight."

Seth looked excited at the idea. He was never one for sore spirits. Leah, however, was an entirely different story. The hatred of having to watch over Bella was extremely clear, but I could see some discomfort beneath it all. Despite what she says, Alice has been on her mind practically nonstop since she semi-accepted the imprint. _Hey, it was a work in progress. _

"I'm not staying to babysit the little bitch," she snarled. "This is not my battle."

Surprisingly, Seth rolled his eyes in annoyance at her words. He vibrated, anger coursing through his veins slightly. I lifted my eyes at this. It was unlike him, but I can't say I was not happy to see such a reaction.

Leah's eyes were hard, staring at him coarsely.

"You know, it should be your battle. After all, you take everything so easily, I wonder what it would be like for you to actually have to suffer through something," he states, some words escaping enveloped in sarcastic tones.

"Don't play with me, brother," she growled. "I can handle my own battles, but I don't stick my head out for anyone, not any more."

"And that's why everyone hates you," he murmured dangerously.

I stood then, getting in between them slightly, staying close to Seth. "Guys, this will solve nothing, and no one is in a battle," I glanced at Leah. She was incredulous, but I just did not care. "Hardships, yes, but nothing else. Now, fighting is not going to happen here. There _are_ more important things transpiring here, no matter what either of you think."

"Sorry, Jake," Seth mumbled, stepping down.

I slapped a hand on his shoulder. He was calm now. Leah was not. Her nose was held high in confident hatred. I shook my head at this. "Seth, you are coming back with me. Leah, since you don't want to be a part of any of this, I won't force you, but you are running patrols until they get back and you are to come if I call. No one fights, not when there's so few of us. We will stay strong, understood?"

They both nodded, one more reluctant than the other. I took that as confirmation and turned from them, jogging back in the direction I came. Seth's steps echoed around mine, and Leah's shadowing hooves faded away as she began patrolling again.

We were on the porch of the house in minutes, walking in of our own accord. I had been in this far too long to still have to knock on the door. I'm a regular.

Walking in, I saw everyone in the living room, but Jasper and Bella. I could hear rustling elsewhere in the house, but I thought little of it. Edward and Rosalie were sitting on the couch, one at each end. Edward was seemingly interested in the documentary rolling across the television screen while Blondie was caught up in another magazine.

The leaving one's were at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go. I walked over to the small group as Carlisle looked over at me. Seth followed suite.

"Everything okay?" Carlisle wondered.

Seth and I nodded with Seth responding with, "It's all good, Doc. Leah's gonna run patrol while we're here. She didn't want to intrude."

Carlisle's eyes knew exactly what was going on, but he chose not to bring it up. "Good. Again, thank you both."

I waved it off. "It's nothing. You guys come back wasted, so there's no quick leaving when you come back."

Emmett chuckled at that, raising a hand for a high five as Esme and Carlisle nodded, moving towards the door. My hand hit his, and, for once, I actually gave a normal high five. There was no strange rock-like noise when our hands collided, but a simple popping noise with solid force.

"Good one, man," he complimented, clapping me on the shoulder as he followed Carlisle and Esme out the door. My hand fell to my side, and Seth disappeared into the kitchen. I shrugged, moving to the couch and plopping down in between Blondie and Edward. I stared at the TV blankly, the words of the narrator blending and blurring. It was gonna be a long few days.

* * *

**(Jasper's POV)**

The water splashed lightly as Bella lifted her hand through the bubbles, caressing her wet protruding stomach. She smiled fondly, the love in her eyes shining.

I stared, entranced by her. She looked better and better as time went on. Her cheeks were rosy against her pale skin, and she was glowing beautifully. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

"Who do you think the baby will be like most? Edward or I?" she wondered, looking up at me with her innocent eyes.

I stood tall from my leaned position against the counter, dropping down beside the tub, resting my elbows along the ceramic. "I think he or she will share qualities from both of you."

She glanced back down at her moving hand. "Who will have more of him, though?"

I thought a moment, tracing her face with my eyes again as I debated on the truth or lie. I could not decide which would affect her in the better way, so I decided on simply telling the truth. "Honestly, Edward, I think."

"Because he's a vampire, he would be more involved," she murmured.

I shrugged. "I suppose one could think that way. Either way, you both will have a beautiful child." She smiled brightly at that, the maternal look in her eyes beaming through.

She smiled, a short breath escaping through her nose. "I hope he's like Edward, too," she said.

"Why?" I whispered. I could see the child being an absolutely perfect mixture of both of them, but I wished to know why Bella would not want pieces of her wonderful self to be passed to her children.

She sighed. "I just...Edward's my husband, my everything. Imagine it, a cute little boy with every quality his father possesses. He'd be the most adorable thing. And Edward is amazing. I am a klutz and human." She looked at me. "I want my child to be able to protect himself. Not like he'll actually have to. Lord knows he'll have protection at every second of everyday, but I want him to be able to take care of himself if he needs to. If he's like me, he'll be too weak to do so, and that sincerely frightens me."

I released my breath through my nose. "I can understand why you would think that, but I don't think you need to worry about that. Your baby will be protected, no matter what. And," I smiled widely, "not to mention the fact that you will soon be able to protect your child on your own."

She looked up at me with pure happiness, the feeling coating my veins and improving my mood immediately. I reveled in it.

"I can't wait," she breathed. I tilted my head slightly, still smiling. Her face grew serious then, and I found myself doing the same.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She looked away, staring at the tile on the opposite wall. "Will I be able to see him as soon as I change, or will I be pulled from him because of my blood lust?"

I licked my lips, my eyebrows coming together as I traced the room swiftly, thinking. In the end, I shook my head. "I don't know, Bella," I admitted. "I like to think not, but I won't tell you something that may not come true. I've delbt with countless newborns and each of them were different in their own ways with the same overall qualities. We can look on the bright side, though. That's all I ask for."

She nodded. "Alright, I wi-" Her eyes grew wide, and pain flared through my chest as soon as the sharp snap permeated the room. She gasped, gripping my hand roughly, and biting her lip to keep from screaming. Her chest heaved as she breathed heavily, a tear falling down her cheek with every move. I calmed her to the best of my ability as I called for Edward.

"Calm down, Bella, you're okay. Shh...shh...It's all going to be okay." I traced her features, holding her hand as Edward entered the room speedily. I tried to use my gift to the best of my ability to take her pain and discomfort away, but I couldn't make the injury magically disappear.

"What happened?" He questioned, frantically as he burst through the bathroom doorway.

"Rib," Bella gasped.

"Dammit," Edward growled. "I have to get Carlisle."

"No need." We turned to see Alice in the doorway, phone in hand, her freshly hunted liquid golden eyes sparkling. "He's already on his way. He said to get Bella out and to his office immediately. Wrap her up in her robe only."

Mine and Edward's eyes met, and he lifted Bella gingerly from the water. She gasped again, her fingers curling into his button-up. I raced into their room, pulling her robe from the hanger. Edward was drying Bella as best as he could with a towel with her in his arms. I came up, robe lifted so she could slip her arms through the sleeves. Bella breathed in deeply, carefully, gripping Edward's shirt even tighter.

"I know, love, I know it hurts, but I need you to put on your robe," he breathed at her ear.

"Don't let me go," she whispered brokenly, the pain clear in her voice.

He glanced at me. "Never." He reached for the robe, twisting it so she could slip an arm in, then he flipped it around so she could do the same with the other arm. He brought the fabric up to cover her bare legs, and the side of her torso. He carried her down the stairs and down the next hall to Carlisle's office. He laid her on the bed, careful not to disturb the break too much. He took a quick x-ray, displaying the charts beneath the light. All of this was done within ten minutes, and Carlisle was soon walking in. The door closed behind him.

He walked over to Bella, opening her robe just enough to check the break. He glanced at me and Edward. "Can I have some time alone to patch this up?" We were both reluctant, but we could not help but abide by his wishes. We made our way out the door. "Oh, and Edward?"

He turned, and I stopped in the doorway. "I need to talk to you when I'm finished. I'll call you up when I need you."

Edward nodded. "I'll be right outside the door."

We went out into the hall, the door clicking behind us. Edward slid down the wall across from the door. Feeling slightly dejected in his presence, I ran down the stairs, standing near the window.

Esme approached me with several large thermouses and I sighed in relief as she handed them to me one by one. I immediately popped open the lid and drank greedily as the scortching burn in my throat died down.

Now, I simply had to wait.

* * *

**Edward's POV**

The minutes went by slowly, much too slowly as I fiddled with the empty thermous lid from the blood that Emmett, Alice, Esme and Carlisle had brought back for all of us from their earlier hunting trip. I loathed time in the moment. I could hear only a little rustling from behind the door, Bella's occasional low grown in pain leaking through. I ran a hand through my hair, pulling my knees to my chest. And that's exactly where I was when the door opened, and Carlisle looked down on me. His breathed whooshed out of his nose, and he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He crossed the hall, sliding down the wall to sit next to me. His legs were stretched across the hall, his knees bent with his feet up against the bottom of the wall.

I sighed, placing my elbows on my knees and lacing my fingers out in front of me. "You wanted to talk to me," I murmured, deflated, tired almost.

"Yes, I have some important news," he said.

I leaned my head back against the wall, tilting it to look at my father. I raised my eyebrows. He glanced at me.

"I think the baby could come very, very soon. Less than mid week, even, four days tops."

My eyes widened. "What? Are you serious?" I was on my feet, looking down on him in the next moment.

"Entirely serious. And it is for that reason, that I think we need to do some research. We can try and find at least something similar to what is going on here, how the child will turn out. For Bella's sake and yours," he stated, standing before me.

I looked down at the floor, nodding agreeably. "Alright. Let's tell her. She deserves to know."

"Indeed." We entered the room. I went to Bella immediately, taking her hand in both of mine and holding onto it like a vice, like it was a lifeline. She glanced between us curiously.

"Is something wrong?" She paused. "Well, besides the obvious?"

"There's nothing wrong, per se, but I...we have some news," Carlisle replied. I nodded to him.

"Okay, what kind of news?" Bella wondered.

"Given your state of body, Bella, Carlisle feels like you could go into labor at any moment, within the next few days actually. We're guessing in about 3-4 days." I said.

Her wide eyes went from me to Carlisle and back again. They misted over with tears as happiness and excitement filled them, and she rubbed her tender stomach softly. She squeezed her hand around my right one. I stared into her eyes, taking my free hand to wipe her cheeks as she smiled, releasing the breath she had been holding.

"We're going to be parents," she whispered. "You're going to be a dad."

My lips parted as my jaw fell slightly. My eyes burned with the tears that could not fall. I swallowed, nodding. "Yeah," I squeezed out joyously. "Yeah, we are."

Carlisle moved over to us, placing a hand on my shoulder, and taking Bella's other hand. "And great parents, you will be. I can already tell."

Bella breathed a laugh, looking up at Carlisle like a daughter would to her father. And that's what Carlisle was. He kissed her forehead gently, glancing at me on his way out. I nodded just enough for him to see. I would burrow into my happiness for now, but I knew that Carlisle and I had work to do. We needed to find more information about things like this. Even so, one thing I did know for sure from all of this, our child would have the most amazing mother in the world with a family that will protect him or her above everything else. And Bella and I would be on the forefront of it all.

She would be a mother. I would be a _father_.

And I was truly, deeply excited for the journey ahead.

_**The beauty in life is not the light that guides you through the dark times, but the darkness that you pull through to reach the light ~Z.B.**_

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	13. Facts, Facts, And Blondes

**Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.**

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**A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo Bella Italiana oX and VampSaxAngel. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note! We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews! – Bella'Xo**

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**Chapter 13  
****(Jacob's POV)**

Now that the Cullen's were back from their hunt and had brought something back for the rest of them, Seth and I escaped out the front door to go and relieve Leah.

"Jacob?" Esme stopped me now that Bella was sleeping on the couch lying across Jasper and Edward, I wanted to get out of there. It was hard enough seeing Bella all lovey with one vamp, but two was drawing the line and I still haven't found out what the whole deal with her and that scary bloodsucker was.

I backed toward the door as Esme continued; she took a few steps after me. "I left a basket of clothes on the porch. They're for Leah. They're freshly washed – I tried to touch them as little as possible." she frowned. "Do you mind taking them to her?"

"On it," I muttered, and then I ducked out the door before anyone could guilt me into anything else.

* * *

Seth looped back toward the main perimeter.

It was easier to run with him as it was to do the same with Leah. Though she was trying – trying hard – there was always an edge to her thoughts. She didn't want to be here and definitely didn't want any chance of giving into the imprinting instincts. She didn't want to feel the softening towards the pixie-like vampire - or any of the vampires that was going on in my head. She didn't want to deal with Seth's cozy friendship with them either, a friendship that was only getting stronger and binding her to the Cullen's against her will.

Funny, though, I'd've thought one of her issues would just be me. We'd always gotten on each other's nerves when we were in Sam's pack. But there was no antagonism toward me now at all, just the Cullen's, Bella and most definitely _Alice._ I wondered why. Maybe it was because I understood her hostility better now. Whichever, running with Leah wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected.

Of course, she hadn't eased up that much. The food and clothes Esme had sent for her were all taking a trip downriver right now. Even after I'd eaten my share – not because it smelled nearly irresistible away from vampire burn, but to set a good example of self-sacrificing tolerance for Leah – she'd refused. The small elk she'd taken down around noon had not totally satisfied her appetite. It did make her mood worse, though. Leah hated eating raw.

_'Maybe we should run a sweep east?' _Seth suggested. _'Go deep, see if they're out there waiting?'_

_'I was thinking about that,' _I agreed. _'But let's do it soon when we're all awake. I don't want to let down our guard.'_

_'Right.'_

That got me thinking.

If the Cullen's were able to get out of the immediate area safely as they did earlier, they really ought to keep going if we can manage another way out. They probably should have taken off the second we'd come to warn them. They had to be able to afford other digs. And they had friends up north, right? Take Bella and run. It seemed like an obvious answer to their problems.

I probably ought to suggest that, but I was afraid they would listen to me. And I didn't want to have Bella disappear – to never know whether she'd made it or not.

No, that was stupid. I would let them go. It made no sense for them to stay, and it would be better – not less painful, but healthier – for me, if Bella left.

_Easy to say now, when Bella wasn't right there, looking at me with her beautiful brown eyes and also clinging to life by her fingernails at the same time. _I thought to myself. Not to mention, Leah would probably rather it that way, though, I'd never seen what happens when an Imprint disappeared from an Imprintee's life before. _Oh well, Leah can do what she wants. If she would want to follow after them, that's her problem, not mine._

_'Oh, I already asked Edward about that,' _Seth thought.

_'What?'_

_'I asked them why they hadn't taken off yet. Gone up to Tanya's place or something. Somewhere too far for Sam to come after them.'_

I had to remind myself that I'd just decided to give the Cullen's that exact advice. That it was best. So, I shouldn't be mad at Seth for taking the chore out of my hands. Not mad at all.

_'So, what did he say? Are they waiting for a window?' _I pressed.

_'No, they're not leaving.' _Seth admitted.

_'Why not? That's just stupid.'_

_'Not really,' _Seth said, defensive now. _'It takes some time to build up the kind of medical access that Carlisle has here. He's got all the stuff he needs to take care of Bella, and the credentials to get more. That's one of the reasons they wanted to make a hunting run earlier. Carlisle thought that they'd need more blood for Bella. She was using up all the O negative they stored for her. He doesn't like depleting the stockpile. He went and ordered some from the hospital while they were out, so he bought some. They're just waiting for it to come in. Hey! Did you know you can buy blood? Well, if you're a doctor.'_

I wasn't ready to be logical yet. _'Still seems stupid. They could bring most of it with them, right? And steal what they need wherever they go. Who cares about legal crap when you're the undead?'_

_'Edward doesn't want to take any risks moving her. She's better than she was.'_

_'Seriously.'_

Seth agreed. In his head, he was comparing my memories of Bella hooked up to the tubes with the last time he'd seen her as he'd left the house. She'd smiled at him and waved. _'But she can't move around much, you know. That thing is kicking the hell out of her.'_

I swallowed back the stomach acid in my throat. _'Yeah, I know.' _

_'Broke another of her ribs' _he told me somberly. My stride faltered, and I staggered a step before I regained my rhythm. _'Carlisle taped her up again. "Just another crack," he said. Jasper's been doing his best to help with her pain by using his emotional mojo, thingy. Then Rosalie said something about how even normal human babies have been known to crack ribs. Edward looked like he was gonna rip her head off.'_

_'Too bad he didn't.'_

Seth was in full report mode now – knowing it was all vitally interesting to me, though I'd never've asked to hear it. _'Bella's been running a fever off and on today. Just low grade – sweats and then chills. Carlisle's not sure what to make of it – she might just be sick. Her immune system can't be in peak form right now.'_

_'Yeah, I'm sure it's just a coincidence.'_

_'She's in a good mood, though. She was sitting against Jasper, chatting with Charlie, laughing and all -'_

_'Charlie! What?! What do you mean, she was talking to Charlie?!' _I interrupted him, cutting him off.

Now Seth's pace stuttered; my fury surprised him. _'Guess he calls every day to talk to her. Sometimes her mom calls, too. Bella sounds so much better now, so she was reassuring him that she was on the mend -'_

_'On the mend?' _I cut him off again. _'What the hell are they thinking?! Get Charlie's hopes up just so that he can be destroyed even worse when she dies? I thought they were getting him ready for that! Trying to prepare him! Why would she set him up like this?'_

_'She might not die,' _Seth thought quietly.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. _'Seth. Even if she pulls through this, she's not doing it human. She knows that, and so do the rest of them. If she doesn't die, she's going to have to do a pretty convincing impersonation of a corpse, kid. Either that, or disappear. I thought they were trying to make this easier on Charlie. Why...?'_

_'I think it's Bella's idea. No one said anything, but Edward's face kinda went right along with what you're thinking now.'_

On the same wavelength with the bloodsucker, yet again.

Seth continued on. _'Jasper's been doing his best with keeping everybody calm and not fighting, for Bella's sake. He seems to really care about her – won't leave her side.'_

_'Yeah, by the way, what is it with those two? I thought that she was supposed to be happily married and now she's codling up with the scarred up blonde leech? It's like he's taken Edward's position as the proud papa, always rubbing her stomach and playing with her hair.' _The thought made me sick. It was like I had another leech to compete with for Bella's love, even if she was married, that's only a piece of paper in the human world.

_'I don't know, man. That whole thing has me warped too. Any time someone tried to get near Bella without the right kind of emotions, he goes all cave man on them. It's weird, almost like how we act with our imprints but to a higher degree.'_ Seth mentally shrugged.

I sighed. _'I guess we'll find out.'_

We ran in silence for a few minutes. I started off a new line, probing south.

_'Don't get too far.' _Seth called out.

_'Why?'_

_'Bella wanted you to stop back ,remember?' _He reminded me as my teeth locked together. _'Alice wants you, too. She says she's tired of hanging out in the attic like the vampire bat in the belfry!' _Seth snorted a laugh._ 'She didn't have anywhere else to really go since going outside on the lawn while Leah's there just stirs up tension.' _He paused. _'I was switching off with Edward before since Jasper refuses to drift far from her. We're trying to keep Bella's temperature stable; cold to hot, as needed. I guess, if you don't want to do it, I could go back -'_

_'No. I got it!' _I snapped.

_'Okay.'_ Seth didn't make any more comments. He concentrated very hard on the empty forest.

I kept my southern course, searching for anything new. I turned around when I got close to the first signs of habitation. Not near the town yet, but I didn't want to get any wolf rumors going again. We'd been nice and invisible for a long while now.

I passed right through the perimeter on my way back, heading for the house. As much as I knew it was a stupid thing to do, I couldn't stop myself. I must be some kind of masochist.

_'There's nothing wrong with you, Jake. This isn't the most normal situation.'_

_'Shut up, please, Seth.'_

_'Shutting!'_

* * *

I didn't hesitate at the door this time; I just walked in like I owned the place. I figured it would piss Rosalie off, but it was a wasted effort. Neither Rosalie nor Bella were anywhere in sight.

I looked around wildly, hoping I'd missed them somewhere, my heart squeezing against my ribs in a weird uncomfortable way.

"She's all right," Edward whispered. "Or, the same, I should say."

Edward was on the couch next to Jasper with his face in his hands; he hadn't looked up to speak. Esme was on his other side, her arm wrapped tight around his shoulders.

"Hello, Jacob," she said. "I'm so glad you came back."

"Me, too," Alice said with a deep sigh. She came prancing down the stairs, making a face, like I was late for an appointment.

"Uh, hey," I said. It felt weird to try to be polite. "Where's Bella?"

"Bathroom," Alice told me. "Mostly fluid diet, you know. Plus, the whole pregnancy thing does that to you, I hear."

"Ah."

**(Bella's POV)**

When Rosalie and I emerged from the hallway that led to the bathroom, I spotted Jacob standing in the middle of the room awkwardly, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Oh wonderful," Rose grumbled. He whipped his head around and saw us coming from a hall half-hidden behind the stairway. She had me cradled gently in her arms with a harsh sneer on her beautiful face at the sight of him. "I knew I smelled something nasty."

I smiled widely at the sight of my best friend. "Jacob," I breathed. "You came." I was hoping that he would return. I cared deeply for my best friend and it always felt complete with him here with the rest of my vampire family.

"Hi Bells." He smiled awkwardly.

Esme, Jasper and Edward all got up as Rosalie carefully laid me out on the couch. I held my breath through the pain, determined not to make any noise, no matter how much it hurt. Jasper was the only one to know the true depths of my pain as he tried to skim off as much as he could with his gift, but I hated that he would have to then feel that as well, but I didn't like Edward – or anyone else, for that matter – to know how much pain that I was really going through. However, it was all worth it for my little one who was still growing inside me.

Edward brushed his hand across my forehead and then along my neck. He tried to make it look as if he was just sweeping my hair back, but I knew that he was really examining me.

"Are you cold?" he murmured.

"I'm fine." I smiled reassuringly as I reached for Jasper hand as he took a seat on the couch and placed my feet in his lap and began to soothingly massage my aching feet. "Thank you, Jas." I sighed in contentment.

"Bella, you know what Carlisle told you," Rosalie said, bringing my attention back towards her. "Don't downplay anything. It doesn't help us take care of either of you."

I sighed, but this time in defeat. "Okay, I'm a little cold. Edward, can you hand me that blanket?" I pointed to the shay in the basket near the corner.

I noticed Jake drastically roll his eyes. "Isn't that sort of the point of me being here?"

"You just walked in," I said. "After running all day, I'd bet. Put your feet up for a minute. I'll probably warm up again in no time."

He ignored me, going to sit on the floor next to the sofa while I was still telling him what to do. He looked like he was afraid to even put his arms around me as he shifted unsure of himself, so he just leaned carefully against my side, letting his arm rest along the length of mine, and held my hand. Then, he put his other hand against my face.

I couldn't help the shiver that went down my spine at the change in temperature. "Thanks Jake."

"Yeah," He said as Edward sat on the arm of the sofa next to where Jasper sat, his eyes never moving from my face.

The sound of Jacob's stomach growling loudly brought all of our attention towards him.

"Rosalie, why don't you get Jacob something from the kitchen?" Alice said. She was nearly invisible now, sitting quietly behind the back of the sofa.

Rosalie stared at the place Alice's voice had come from in disbelief.

"Thanks, anyway, Alice, but I don't think I'd want to eat something Blondie's spit in. I'd bet my system wouldn't take too kindly to venom." Jake retorted causing Jasper to not so subtly smirk at me before turning his attention back to the show on the television.

"Rosalie would never embarrass Esme by displaying such a lack of hospitality." Alice huffed.

"Of course not," Rose said in a sugar-sweet voice that was immediately distrustful. She got up and breezed out of the room.

Edward sighed.

"You'd tell me if she poisoned it, right?" Jake asked flatly.

"Yes," Edward promised and I knew that he was honest in his admission.

There was a lot of banging in the kitchen, bringing all of our attention towards the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room and – weirdly – the sound of metal protesting as it was abused echoed throughout the house. Edward sighed again, but smiled just a little, too, causing me to smile in return at one of the rarer sights to see these days. Then, Rosalie was back before any of us could think much more about the clambering in the kitchen.

With a pleased smirk, she set a silver bowl on the floor next to Jake. "Enjoy, mongrel."

It had once probably been a big mixing bowl, but she'd bent the bowl back in on itself until it was shaped almost exactly like a dog dish. It was cleaver and even Jacob looked to be impressed with her quick craftsmanship - and her attention to detail. She'd scratched the word 'Fido' into the side in her elegant, excellent handwriting.

The food looked pretty good – steak, no less, and a big baked potato with all the fixings like the one that Seth had for dinner the night before.

I bit my lip to hide my amusement as Jasper gently squeezed my leg in good humor to the whole situation as he projected his own emotions towards me, letting me know that he was just as entertained by the scenario as I was.

Jake picked up a fork and nodded pleasantly towards Rosalie. "Thanks Blondie," he nodded. She snorted. "Hey, what do you call a blonde with a brain?" He asked, and then continued on the same breath, "a golden retriever."

"I've heard that one, too," she said, no longer smiling.

"I'll keep trying," he promised, and then dug in.

When he was finished – though, it looked as though he was considering licking the bowl, just to give Rose something to complain about – I began to run my cold fingers through his hair, pulling softly before patting it down against the back of his neck.

"Time for a haircut, huh?" He looked up at me.

"You're getting a little shaggy," I said. "Maybe -"

"Let me guess, someone around here used to cut hair in a salon in Paris?"

I began to giggle and nodded. "Probably."

"No thanks," he said before I could really offer. "I'm good for a few more weeks." He suddenly got a serious look on his face that had figments of pain hidden behind his concentration. "So... um... what's the, er, date? You know, the due date for the little monster."

I smacked the back of his head with probably about as much force as a drifting feather to him, but refused to answer.

"I'm serious," he told me, his playful expression somewhat gone as he kept a small smile on his lips. "I want to know how long I'm gonna have to be here." He clarified, but I knew what he really was thinking. He didn't believe that I could pull through this and that everything would be OK like I was determined for it to be.

"I don't know," I murmured. "Erm, not exactly," I fumbled, trying to procrastinate a bit. "Obviously, we're not going with the nine-month model here, and we can't get an ultrasound, so Carlisle is guesstimating on how big I am. Normal people are supposed to be about forty centimeters here" - I ran my finger right down the middle of my bulging stomach - "when the baby is fully grown. One centimeter for every week. I was thirty this morning, and I've been gaining about two centimeters a day, sometimes more..."

His had begun to pale, causing me to drift off mid sentence.

"You okay?" I asked.

He nodded, though, I had a feeling that if he tried to speak, it would only come out a croaking noise. It killed me to see my best friend like this as silent tears filled his eyes. I looked towards Jasper anxiously. He obliged as he sent calming reassurance into the room as I ran my finger across his cheekbone, tracing over the tear streak.

"It's going to be okay," I tried to croon, but I could tell that the words didn't mean anything to him when he didn't believe them.

"Right," he muttered.

I curled against his arm, resting my head on his shoulder and decided to change the subject. "I didn't think you would come. You left so suddenly, but Seth said you would, and so did Jasper and Edward, but I didn't believe them."

"Why not?" He asked gruffly.

"You're not happy here. But you came anyway."

"You wanted me here."

"I know. But you didn't have to come, because it's not fair for me to want you here and to be my best friend and have to face this. I would have understood."

It was quiet for a minute. Jasper rubbed soothing circles on my ankle and Edward looked at the TV as Rosalie went on flipping through the channels. She was into the six hundreds. I briefly wondered how long it would take to get back to the beginning.

"Thank you for coming," I whispered.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Of course."

Edward didn't look like he was paying attention to us at all, but I knew that he knew what Jake's question was and I knew by Jasper's expression that it was causing Jake pain.

"Why do you want me here? Seth could keep you warm, and he's probably easier to be around, happy little punk. But when I walk in the door, you look at me with the same look you always have, even before." I knew what he meant; before when Edward had left. "You act like I'm you're favorite person in the world."

"You're one of them." I confirmed. _Why wouldn't I smile at him when I see him? He'll always be my sun. _

"That sucks, you know."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Sorry."

"Why, though? You didn't answer that."

I noticed Edward look away and Jasper shift slightly.

"It feels complete when you're here, Jacob. It always does. It's like all my family is together. I mean, I guess that's what it's like – I've never had a big family before now. It's nice." I smiled for half a second. "You could have been my soul mate in another life time and you have always been my rock. My very best friend."

"I'll never be part of your family, Bella."

I shook my head. "You've always been a part of my family," I disagreed as I remembered making mud pies when we were children and the fond memories of us down at La Push when I came back to live with Charlie.

"That's a crap answer." He whirled on me, causing Jasper to growl warningly at him and shift closer to me as if to get to him faster.

I put my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him as I turned back to look at Jacob. "What's a good one?"

"How about _'Jacob, I get a kick out of your pain.'_"

I flinched as Jasper let out another warning growl and I did my best to send some calm through to him even though it felt like I had just been hit in the gut by someone I cared about. God, he was my best friend and I wished that I could return the feelings that he had for me, but I just wasn't meant for him. He'll find his true other half for this life time, but I'm not it and I hated to hurt him in any way.

I swallowed thickly and I could feel the vibration from Jasper's low growls that were too low for me to hear with my human ears. Alice, knowing what would already happen, stayed hidden behind the couch . Rosalie looked worried, but kept to herself. Edward seemed like he was also on the edge of his seat but he was letting everything play out, knowing everyone's thoughts and if something would happen because of Alice's visions. But the room of conflicting emotions made a difficult cocktail for Jasper to deal with.

"You'd like that better?" I whispered.

"It's easier, at least. I could wrap my head around it. I could deal with it."

I closed my eyes, frowning, but I could still feel him looking at me. "We got off track, Jake. Out of balance. You're supposed to be part of my life – I can feel that, and so can you." I paused for a second without opening my eyes, waiting for him to deny it. When he didn't say anything, I went on. "But not like this. We did something wrong. No. I did. I did something wrong, and we got off track..." My voice trailed off and the frown on my face relaxed until it was just a little pucker at the corner of my lips and lethargy began to overtake me from everything that had been happening around me.

**(Edward's POV)**

"She's exhausted," Jasper murmured with an edge to his tender tone and I watched his fingertips ghost along the skin on her arm in a tender fashion.

"It's been a long day." I agreed, but then rephrased. "A hard day. I think she would have gone to sleep earlier, but she wanted to see you."

He didn't look at me as he kept his curious eyes on Jasper as he affectionately tended to Bella.

"Seth said it broke another of her ribs."

"Yes. It's making it hard for her to breathe."

"Great." He mumbled. "Let me know when she get's hot again."

"Yeah." Jasper nodded, still not looking at him. I could hear in his thoughts that he was angry for the way that he had just treated Bella and I couldn't say that I disagreed.

I read from Jasper's thoughts that she still had goosebumps, so before he could react, I snagged the blanket that was draped over the arm of the sofa and flung it out so that it settled over her.

_'I guess that occasionally the mind-reading thing saves time' _Jacob's thoughts echoed in my head. _'Maybe I won't have to make a big production out of the accusation about what was going on with Charlie. Ugh, that mess. Edward can probably hear exactly how furious -"_

"Yes," I agreed. "It's not a good idea."

"Then why?" _'Why was Bella telling her father she was on the mend when it would only make him more miserable?_

"She can't bear his anxiety." Jasper added, catching on to what we were talking about.

"So it's better -"

"No. It's not better." I shook my head. "But I'm not going to force her to do anything that makes her unhappy now. Whatever happens, this makes her feel better. I'll deal with the rest afterward."

He shook his head. "That doesn't sound right. Bella wouldn't just shuffle Charlie's pain off to some later date, for someone else to face. Even dying. That wasn't her. If I knew Bella, she has to have some other plan."

"She's very sure she's going to live," I said.

Jasper hissed. "She _is_ going to live." He said as he tenderly continued to rub her stomach, my child, through it's womb.

"But not human," Jacob protested.

"No, not human. But she hope to see Charlie again, anyway."

_'_Oh,_ this just got better and better' _Jacob thought to himself. "See. Charlie." He finally looked at me, hi eyes bugging. "Afterward. See Charlie when he's all sparkly white with bright red eyes. I'm not a bloodsucker, so maybe I'm missing something, but Charlie seems like kind of a strange choice for her first meal."

I sighed. "She knows she won't be able to be near him for at least a year. She thinks she can stall. Tell Charlie she has to go to a special hospital on the other side of the world. Keep in contact through phone calls..."

"That's insane!"

"Yes."

"Charlie's not stupid. Even if she doesn't kill him, he's going to notice a difference."

"She's sort of banking on that." Jasper supplied. Jacob continued to stare at him, waiting for him to explain. "She wouldn't be aging, of course, so that would set a time limit, even if Charlie accepted whatever excuse she comes up with for the changes." He smiled faintly.

He didn't seem to be getting it so I jumped in. "Do you remember when you tried to tell her about your transformation? How you made her guess?"

His free hand flexed into a fist. "She told you about that?"

"Yes. She was explaining her... idea. You see, she's not allowed to tell Charlie the truth – it would be very dangerous for him. But he's a smart, practical man. She thinks he'll come up with his own explanation. She assumes he'll get it wrong."

Jasper snorted. "After all, we hardly adhere to vampire canon. He'll make some wrong assumption about us, like she did in the beginning, and we'll go along with it."

"She thinks she'll be able to see him... from time to time." I finished.

"Insane," Jacob repeated.

"Yes," I agreed again.

Jacob internally snorted._ 'He probably isn't expecting her to live to try out her crazy plan. Placating her, so that she could be happy for a little while longer... Like four more days...'_

"I'll deal with whatever comes," I whispered and turned my face down and away so that he couldn't read my expression as grief took over me. _Why did having this child have to be so difficult...so life threatening... _I thought as grief overcame me. "I won't cause her pain now."

"Four days?" Jacob asked.

I didn't look up as Jasper answered. "Approximately."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean, exactly?" I asked.

Jacob began to think about what Bella had said about it being wrapped up nice and tight in something strong, something like vampire skin and explained that very thing out loud for Jasper's benefit. "So, how does that work? How does it get out?

"From what little research we've been able to find, it would appear the baby uses their own teeth to escape the womb," I whispered.

Jacob had to pause and it looked as though he had to swallow back bile. "Research?" He asked weakly.

"That's why you haven't seen Emmett around, though sometimes Edward, Carlisle and I will join him. He's good a that sort of thing. Actually, that's what Carlisle's doing now. We've been trying to decipher ancient stories and myths, as much as we can with what with what we have to work with here, looking for anything that might help us predict the baby's behavior." Jasper explained.

"Stories?" Jacob asked. "If there were myths, then..."

"Then this is not the first of it's kind?" I asked, anticipating his question. "Maybe. It's all very sketchy. The myths could easily be the products of fear and imagination. Though..." - I hesitated - "your myths are true, are they not? Perhaps these are, too. They do seem to be localized, linked..."

"How did you find...?"

"There was a woman that Bella and I had encountered in South America. She'd been raised in the traditions of her people. She'd heard warnings about such 'creatures', old stories that had been passed down."

"What were the warnings?" He whispered.

"That the creature must be killed immediately. Before it could gain too much strength." I choked out causing Jasper to snarl protectively over Bella's bulging stomach. It's almost like he had already lay claim on the baby in some way.

_'Just like Sam thought.' _Jacob thought to himself interrupting my observations._ 'Was he right?'_

"Of course, their legends say the same of us. That we must be destroyed." Jasper supplied. "That we are soulless murderers."

"Two for two." Jacob mumbled causing Jasper and I to both let out a chuckle. "What did their stories say about the... mothers."

I felt agony rip through me and I knew that it showed across my face as Jasper flinched visibly from my pain as well as his own. Neither of us could speak.

It was Rosalie – who'd been so still and quiet since Bella'd fallen asleep that if it weren't for her thoughts, I'd have forgotten she was there – who answered.

She made a scornful noise in the back of her throat. "Of course there were no survivors," she said in a way that sounded blunt and uncaring. "Giving birth in the middle of a disease-infested swamp with a medicine man smearing sloth spit across your face to drive out the evil spirits was never the safest method. Even the normal births went badly half the time. None of them had what this baby has – caregivers with an idea of what the baby needs, who try to meet those needs. A doctor with a totally unique knowledge of vampire nature. A plan in place to deliver the baby as safely as possible. Venom that will repair anything that goes wrong. The baby will be fine. And those mothers would probably have survived if they'd had that – if they even existed in the first place – something I am not convinced of." She sniffed disdainfully.

**(Jacob's POV)**

_'The baby, the baby.' _Like that was all that mattered. Bella's life was a minor detail to her – easy to blow off.

Edward's face went white as snow. His hands curved into claws as his anger fueled Jasper's, turning his eyes pitched black, except for the whites.

Totally egotistical and indifferent, Rosalie twisted in her chair so that her back was to him. He leaned forward, shifting into a crouch.

_'Allow me,'_ I suggested as Jasper crouched protectively over Bella's sleeping form, searching for the nearest threat of danger.

Edward paused, raising one eyebrow.

Silently, I lifted my doggy bowl off the floor. Then, with a quick, powerful flip of my wrist, I threw it into the back of Blondie's head so hard that – with an earsplitting bang – it smashed flat before it ricocheted across the room and snapped the round top piece off the thick newel post at the foot of the stairs.

Bella twitched under Jasper, but didn't wake up.

"Dumb blonde," I muttered.

Rosalie turned her head slowly, and her eyes were blazing. "**You. Got. Food. In. My. Hair.**"

That did it.

I busted up. I pulled away from Bella so that I wouldn't shake her, and laughed so hard that tears ran down my face. From behind the couch, I heard Alice's tinkling laugh join in with Edward's grin. I guess the emotions were too much for Jasper, as well, because he too began to vibrate with sudden laughter as he carefully backed off of Bella.

I wondered why Rosalie didn't spring. I sort of expected it. But then I realized that our laughing had woken Bella up, though she'd slept right through the real noise.

"What's so funny?" She mumbled.

"I got food in her hair," I told her, chortling again.

"I'm not going to forget this, dog!" Rosalie hissed.

"S'not so hard to erase a blonde's memory," I countered. "Just blow in her ear."

"Get some new jokes!" She snapped.

"C'mon, Jake. Leave Rose alo-" Bella broke off mid-sentence and sucked in a sharp breath. In the same second, Edward was leaning over top of me, ripping the blanket out of the way as Jasper began to examine her from the other side. She seemed to convulse, her back arching off the sofa.

"He's just," she panted, "stretching." Her lips were white, and she had her teeth locked together like she was trying to hold back a scream.

Edward put both hands on either side of her face as Jasper rubbed her stomach and sent relaxing emotions to the creature – as I learned he'd done before. "Carlisle?" he called in a tense, low voice.

"Right here," the doctor said. I hadn't heard him come in.

"Okay," Bella said, still breathing hard and shallow. "Think it's over. Poor kid doesn't have enough room, that's all. He's getting so big."

It was really hard to take that adoring tone she used to describe the thing that was tearing her up. Especially after Rosalie's callousness. Made me wish I could throw something at Bella, too.

She didn't pick up my mood. "You know, he reminds me of you, Jake," she said – affectionate tone – still gasping.

"Do not compare me to that thing," I spit out through my teeth causing Jasper to snarl at me once again.

"I just meant your growth spurt," she said, looking like I'd hurt her feelings. Good. "You shot right up. I could watch you getting taller by the minute. He's like that, too. Growing so fast."

I bit my tongue to keep from saying what I wanted to say – hard enough that I tasted blood in my mouth. Of course, it would heal before I could swallow. That's what Bella needed. To be strong like me, to be able to heal...

"Hmm," Carlisle murmured.

I looked up and his eyes were on me. "What?" I demanded.

Edward's head leaned to one side as he reflected on whatever was in Carlisle's head.

"You know that I was wondering about the fetus's genetic makeup, Jacob. About his chromosomes."

"What of it?"

"Well, taking your similarities into consideration -"

"_Similarities?"_ I growled, not appreciating the plural.

"The accelerated growth, and the fact that Alice cannot see either of you." I felt my face go blank. I'd forgotten about that other one. "Well, I wonder if that means that we have an answer. If the similarities are gene-deep."

"Twenty-four pairs," Edward muttered under his breath.

"You don't know that."

"No. But it's interesting to speculate," Carlisle said in a soothing voice.

"Yeah, just fascinating."

Bella's light snore started up again, accenting my sarcasm nicely.

They got into it then, quickly taking the genetics conversation to a point where the only words I could understand were the the's and the and's. And my own name, of course.

Alice joined in, commenting now and then in her chirpy bird voice.

Even though they were talking about me, I didn't try to figure out the conclusions they were drawing. I had other things on my mind, a few facts I was trying to reconcile.

Fact one, Bella'd said that the creature was protected by something as strong as vampire skin, something that was too impenetrable for ultrasounds, too tough for needles.

Fact two, Rosalie'd said they had a plan to deliver the creature safely.

Fact three, Edward'd said that – in myths – other monsters like this one would chew their way out of their own mothers.

I shuddered. And that made a sick kind of sense, because, fact four, not many things could cut through something as strong as vampire skin. The half-creature's teeth – according to myth – were strong enough. My teeth were strong enough.

And vampire teeth were strong enough.

It was hard to miss the obvious, but I sure wished I could. Because I had a pretty good idea exactly how Rosalie planned to get that thing 'safely' out.

And finally, fact five, something was up with Jasper, Bella and the creature and I was just full of befuddlement as I tried to figure out what it was.

* * *

**A/N:**** So, what did everyone think? The research you learned in this chapter is only some of it. They still are working on a birthing plan. And what of Alice and Leah? What about the wolves? And what about Jasper and Bella? Any ideas what will happen next? Review!**

**If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's note!**

**To see more, go to either of our pages: Xo BellaItalia oX or VampSaxAngel **

**If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Twilight stories that involve Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selected male leads if anyone is looking for a Beta Reader. I will make exceptions on the characters depending on the plot. I am also now accepting Phantom of the Opera FanFictions that include Erik! I will also be accepting Bones featuring Agent Seeley Booth, Dawson's Creek, Titanic FanFictions featuring Jack, Snow White and the Huntsman featuring Snow White or Eric (the huntsman), The Ghost Whisperer that feature Melinda and Law and Order SVU that feature Elliot. I will accept OC characters as well depending on the other lead character. PM me for details!  
**_- Bella'Xo  
_**Xo Bella Italiana oX **


	14. Absent to Published?

Hello, everyone!

I know that this is not at all what any of you want to see. I know that all of you would much rather see the next chapter for any one of my projects, but I do have a valid reason for my absence. It has been near a year or less so since my last chapter update. In that time, I have written a novel and am currently in the final editing, formatting, and releasing process. I am soon to become a published author!

With this exciting news under my belt, I am trying my best to get the book out as soon as possible. While I cannot say much, I highly encourage all of you to take the link on my profile page to get to my official Facebook page and like it in order to receive updates and quotes and such for my first novel, _Decimation. _

This project is the first book in my Chosen's Trilogy, and I am very ready to allow all of you to read it. For how great the process is going, the book will be available before Christmas (Hello Christmas present!) or even earlier. The book is on a running for online release as well as a Kindle/Nook/iPad format.

I am incredibly happy for my dream to be coming true and for all of you to go on this journey with me. It's...it's been a while, but I am ready to keep in touch with all of you through this and Facebook (more so on FB, it's easier). I hope that all of you will stay with me during this crazy ride I'm about to go on and such.

I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it feel to be doing this, and how well everything has been going. And not just with this project, with my projects on Fanfiction and everything. It's been nice, and I am excited for the future.

But, anyway, I hope that all of you understand why I have been absent. Also, when things start dying down a bit, I will be working to get back into Fanfiction and writing a good amount before spinning off again to start work on the second book in the trilogy.

Again, be sure to like my Facebook page to get more information. I hope to be on good terms with all of you now even though I have been gone for quite a long time. I wish you all the best and hope that you all join me in my journey.

Best wishes to all of you and stay blessed.

~Much love,

Zoe


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